The Portland Art Museum is launching a program to bring on a team of Native American co-curators to revitalize its Native American art collection, led by curator Kathleen Ash-Milby. The museum has partnered with multi-disciplinary artist and scholar Phil Cash Cash, a member of the Nez Perce and Cayuse tribes, who will contribute Indigenous perspectives to the collection's evolution. Cash Cash, who holds a PhD in Anthropology and Linguistics and co-founded the Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts, gave a talk to the museum's Native American Art Council in early 2026, marking a new collaborative phase.
This initiative matters because it represents a shift toward genuine Indigenous stewardship and co-curation in a major museum, moving beyond land acknowledgments to active partnership with Native artists and scholars. By embedding Indigenous voices directly into the curation process, the Portland Art Museum is setting a precedent for how institutions can address historical erasure and build more equitable, culturally responsive practices. The program also highlights the growing trend of museums rethinking their relationships with Indigenous communities, making this a significant model for the broader art world.