Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries

Opening Reception
Saturday, September 12, 2026 | 5–7 p.m.
Free, accessible, and open to the public.

Exhibition Runs:
September 12, 2026–January 31, 2027

Millicent Rogers Museum and the Taos Abstract Artist Collective present Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries, a collaborative exhibition and curatorial response curated by independent curator Myvanwy Birds and Millicent Rogers Museum curator Claire Pelaez Motsinger.

The exhibition brings contemporary Indigenous artists into conversation with works held in the Millicent Rogers Museum collection. Rather than viewing these pieces solely as artifacts of the past, the exhibition recognizes them as carriers of knowledge, memory, presence, and living cultural traditions.

At its heart, Where Silver Meets the Sky considers the traces held within museum collections: the hands that created an object, the communities that shaped it, and the relationships it continues to carry. Historic and contemporary works meet across generations, creating space for the past and present to speak with one another.

Millicent Rogers collected and wore jewelry with boldness and passion. Silver and turquoise became central to her public identity, reflecting both her individuality and her admiration for Southwestern artistry. This exhibition expands that legacy, looking beyond adornment as decoration.

For many Indigenous communities, jewelry, textiles, and body adornments carry meanings of protection, place, family, ceremony, adaptation, and continuity. They are not simply objects to be seen. They are what the body carries.

Featured Artists

  • Shane Hendren (Diné)
  • Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo)
  • Star Not Afraid (Hopi)
  • Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo)
  • Tara Trudell (Santee Sioux/Rarámuri/Xicana)
  • Leah Mata Fragua (yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini Northern Chumash)
  • Choclo (Occaneechi, Filipino and English)
  • Frosley Fowler (Diné)
  • Mayta Katari (Quechua’)

Through their individual practices, the featured artists extend these conversations with works grounded in community, identity, and self-determination. Together, the exhibition affirms that Indigenous creativity is not fixed in the past. It is alive, evolving, and deeply connected to the present.

Adornment is beauty.
Adornment is history.
Adornment is sovereignty.
Adornment is a relationship with the land.

Through artist voices, public programming, and curatorial dialogue, Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries invites visitors to consider museums as places not only of preservation, but also of continued relationships and new conversations.

Plan Your Visit

Museum hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m., closed Wednesdays. General admission is $20, with $15 admission for students and seniors age 65+. Admission is free for tribal members, museum members, and children under 6. Taos County residents receive free museum admission every Sunday.