“Generous funding from the CORA Foundation will provide opportunities for visitors and students to engage more deeply with Native American arts and cultures. Through major support to develop new educational materials and public programming for this permanent collection project, CORA is helping us to increase public access to the Museum’s collection while amplifying the work of Indigenous artists, past and present.”
Native American art has been a part of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s (FAMSF) collections since its foundation as the Memorial Museum in 1895; the collection has grown substantially throughout the 20th century and beyond.
After several years of planning, the de Young museum is debuting a new presentation of Native American art in September 2025. The CORA Foundation reveals more details about the project and its four-year sponsorship of the educational materials and free public programming that accompany the exhibition.
What is the all-new Native American Art exhibition about?
In 2022, FAMSF initiated a plan to re-envision the Native American art galleries at the de Young museum. With substantial support from the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Henry Luce Foundation, FAMSF partnered with a group of Native scholars to collaboratively develop the exhibition from the outset.
The curatorial group also consulted with communities of origin about the display and interpretation of artworks in the exhibition.
Through this collaborative work, the project has generated new scholarship, offering visitors a deeper, richer understanding of Native American artists and histories represented in the Museums’ collection.
Exploring the theme of “Relationship to Place,” the exhibition features highlights from the Museum’s permanent collection alongside lesser-known artworks, as well as new major acquisitions, including an artwork purchased with support from the CORA Foundation, and commissions made for this installation by premier contemporary artists.
Visitors will experience works spanning over a thousand years of history and incorporating all types of media, challenging expectations about what Native art is and can be.
What are the new Curriculum and Public Programs supported by CORA Foundation?
Thanks to a four-year grant from CORA Foundation, the Fine Arts Museums are able to deepen impact and engagement with this project. The grant supports the development of new educational materials for school and family visits, as well as a multiyear series of free public programs that will deepen visitor engagement with Native American arts and artists.
The Fine Arts Museums welcome more than 30,000 students on school group visits per year. While FAMSF develops curricula for major special exhibitions, it does not often have the capacity to do so for its permanent collection galleries.
With support from CORA, the Museums are creating educational materials to accompany the new installation in the Native American art galleries. Intended for both self-guided family tours and school groups, these materials are being developed in partnership with Indigenous educators and align with California state curricula for 4th, 8th, and 11th grades.
The four-year grant from the CORA Foundation also provides funds to facilitate visits from Title I school groups, increasing access for students who may not otherwise be able to visit the Museums.
In addition to the new curriculum for school groups and self-guided family visits, the CORA Foundation is supporting a series of free public programs at the de Young museum.
The first of these programs will be a scholarly symposium to celebrate the opening of the new Native American art galleries on September 13, 2025. The rest of the series will comprise three programs annually that highlight Native performance art, aiming to provide a platform to amplify the practices of emerging artists.
All of the programs will be free and shared with both museum visitors and virtual audiences through video and/or livestreaming on social media channels.
What is the Timeline and Project Sustainability – for Impact?
The new installation of Native American art is expected to remain on view at the de Young for a number of years to come, ensuring that the curriculum and recorded programming remains relevant for a significant period.
The educational materials will also be developed iteratively to most successfully meet the needs of the Museum’s diverse constituents.
Given the alignment with school curriculum for California history, we anticipate that these materials will continue to be relevant for teachers and students in the coming years.
We also hope that the four-year support from the CORA Foundation will allow the Fine Arts Museums to build the program to a point where it can gain its own momentum and garner further support to maintain the work beyond the scope of this grant.
An Impact Measurement Plan is in place for year 4.
See the museum website for more on the Native American art in its collections. The New Native American Art Galleries will open in September 2025.
The CORA Foundation is dedicated to safeguarding and celebrating culture and heritage.The foundation works on a global scale to support projects that protect, elevate, and interpret culture and heritage in all its forms.
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