School for Advanced Research

Meet SAR's 2026–2027 Resident Scholar Cohort

This year, SAR welcomes a remarkable new cohort of resident scholars whose work spans anthropology, history, archaeology, Indigenous studies, environmental humanities, linguistics, and art history.

Their research explores questions of sovereignty, climate and environmental change, slavery and emancipation, Indigenous genomics and bioethics, Maya history, food systems, Native art, multispecies relationships, and historical memory across communities and continents.

For more than 50 years, SAR’s Resident Scholar program has offered scholars uninterrupted time, space, and cross-disciplinary exchange to deepen research and develop new ideas. This year’s cohort continues that legacy through projects that challenge assumptions, illuminate overlooked histories, and expand how we understand culture and social change.

The 2026–2027 cohort includes scholars from institutions including UCLA, University of Southern California, UC Berkeley, Princeton University, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Skidmore College, and more.

Read the full announcement: https://pulse.ly/d0l5m0du8c

A Shared Gesture in Clay

For SAR’s 2026 Gala Dinner on June 6, four former (and one incoming) Native Artist Fellows have come together to create a collaborative work that will be featured in this year’s auction, with all proceeds supporting SAR's important projects and programs.

The project brings together Kathleen Wall, Max Early, Marla Allison, Mateo Romero, and Eliza Naranjo Morse, and Margarita Pedro Paz, each contributing their distinct visual language to a series of clay vessels formed by Kathleen Wall using clay gathered in collaboration with artist and poet Max Early.

Grounded materially in place and shaped through shared artistic exchange, the work reflects both continuity and contemporary Native expression. Each artist brings a nationally recognized practice to the collaboration, making this an especially rare convergence of voice, lineage, and form.

More than a grouping of works, the project represents something deeply connected to SAR’s Native Artist Fellowship program: artists in conversation across generations, disciplines, and communities.

Gala details and ticket information:https://pulse.ly/lasebw1mlc

Read more here: https://pulse.ly/8lepvmnkrm

This month, SAR is proud to host the SAR–Getty Institute for Art History, an immersive program bringing together scholars, curators, artists, and museum practitioners for critical conversations around Native art, community engagement, and the future of art history.

Co-facilitated by Dr. Amy Lonetree, Elysia P**n, and Landis Smith, this seminar centers on approaches to art history grounded in collaboration, responsibility, and Indigenous perspectives.

Participants joining us in Santa Fe include individuals affiliated with institutions across the country. We look forward to welcoming this remarkable cohort to SAR and to the meaningful conversations, learning, and exchange that will unfold throughout the Institute.

Chaco Canyon & Chocolate

Join us for an inspiring summer evening at SAR, welcoming our honorary chair, Keegan King (Acoma Pueblo), founder of the Native Land Institute, and featuring a program with archaeologist Dr. Patricia Crown, whose research revealed cacao residue at Chaco Canyon’s Pueblo Bonito.

The evening includes a reception, chocolate-themed dinner, live program, and silent and live auctions featuring unforgettable experiences and extraordinary works of art.

Auction highlights include:
• Chaco Canyon Guided Experience
• Hosted Dinner in the SAR Garden
• Work by:
- Roxanne Swentzell
- Lonnie Vigil
- Nampeyo
- Helen Hardin
and a collaborative work created specifically for this event by Kathleen Wall, Mateo Romero, Eliza Naranjo-Morse, and Margarita Pedro Paz!

Ticket available now.

Saturday, June 6, 2026
5:00 pm–8:00 pm
SAR Campus | Santa Fe
$500

Purchase tickets: https://pulse.ly/lxtsvp7non

June at SAR

From summer courses to live music, June at SAR invites you to dive into new ideas across campus and beyond.

June 2–5
Summer Course: Traveling the Santa Fe Trail
9:00 am–1:00 pm | SAR Campus

June 6
Chaco Canyon & Chocolate Gala Dinner
5:00 pm–8:00 pm | SAR Campus

June 16–19
Summer Course: Indigenous Archaeology and Protecting Sacred Places in the Southwest
9:00 am–1:00 pm | SAR Campus

June 17
Discussion of Native Nations: A Millennium in North America
3:00 pm–5:00 pm | SAR Campus
Open to SAR members

June 18
President’s Lecture with Kathleen DuVal
The American Revolution and the Survival of Native Nations
6:00 pm–7:30 pm | Lensic Performing Arts Center

June 23
Discussion of The Rediscovery of America
10:00 am–12:00 pm | SAR Campus
Open to SAR members

June 25
Music at Dusk: Round Mountain
6:00 pm | SAR Campus

Whether you’re joining us for a lecture, course, concert, or community conversation, we look forward to welcoming you this month.

View full calendar: https://pulse.ly/wkzivfxxqe

From the Education Collection | What do you think this tool was used for?

Take a close look. The design is simple, but the function is powerful.

This tool is a pump drill, used for thousands of years to start fires and drill holes in materials like wood, shell, and stone, often for making beads.

Still used and taught today, the pump drill reflects the ingenuity and continuity of Indigenous technologies. Objects like this are not just tools of the past, but part of living knowledge systems carried forward across generations.

This example comes from the IARC’s education collection, where hands-on learning helps bring these practices to life.

Explore tours and collections: https://pulse.ly/qhqpk2g2b3

President’s Lecture | Kathleen DuVal

In this year’s President’s Lecture, historian Kathleen DuVal invites us to reconsider one of the most defining moments in U.S. history by centering the American Revolution around the experiences of Native nations.

Adding to the complex story of independence, DuVal’s work asks us to question how Native nations navigated, adapted, and survived during a time of upheaval.

Drawing from her award-winning research, she explores how Indigenous communities were active political actors shaping alliances, diplomacy, and the future of the continent. Her work challenges long-held narratives and highlights the endurance, strategy, and sovereignty of Native nations across centuries.

Join us for an evening that reframes history and expands how we understand revolution, survival, and power.

This is just around the corner! Register now: https://pulse.ly/15chy07h6w

Join us this summer for the second year of Music at Dusk.

Enjoy two distinct evenings filled with live music, drinks, food, and community. This year has performances by Round Mountain and Lara Manzanares Trio.

Mark your calendars
- June 25: Round Mountain
- July 9: Lara Manzanares Trio

Save the date!

"I Am Clay: Acoma Life in Figures" opens at the Museum of International Folk Art on Sunday, June 7th!

"I Am Clay" is a community-curated exhibition of hand-built figurative pottery from Acoma Pueblo centered on the women artists who have shaped and sustained this tradition for generations.

The exhibit, which includes 21 works from the IARC collection, will be on view at the Museum of International Folk Art from June 7 - November 29, 2026.

Images:
Frances Torivio (Acoma Pueblo)
Figure, ca. 1960s
Museum of International Folk Art, gift of the Girard Foundation Collection
Photograph by Addison Doty

Grace Chino (Acoma Pueblo)
Vase, c.1980
SAR.1994-4-548
School for Advanced Research
Photograph by Addison Doty

Marie (Zieu) Chino and Vera Chino (Acoma Pueblo)
Seed jar, c.1970s
SAR.1994-4-557
School for Advanced Research
Photograph by Addison Doty

Artist once known (Acoma Pueblo)
Dough bowl, c.1880
IAF.997
School for Advanced Research
Photograph by Addison Doty

Announcing the 2026–2027 Native Artist Fellows

SAR is proud to welcome this year’s Native Artist Fellows:

• Margarita Paz-Pedro (Laguna Pueblo, Santa Clara Pueblo, Mexican-American)
• Chantele Rilatos (Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians)
• Brian Walker II (Deg Hit’an Dene, Alaskan Native)

This year's offsite residency model supports these three artists while they remain rooted in their home communities. Fellows will engage with SAR’s Indian Arts Research Center resources while developing new work grounded in both cultural knowledge and contemporary practice.

Working across multimedia installation, basketry, and mask carving, this cohort reflects the strength of living traditions and the ways Indigenous artists continue to expand them.

From adobe and ceramic forms that explore memory and land, to baskets that carry forward ancestral knowledge, to a deeply personal funerary mask rooted in cultural tradition, each project speaks to continuity, innovation, and connection.

Since 1984, SAR’s Native Artist Fellowship program has supported artists shaping the future of Indigenous art.

Learn more about each Native Artist Fellow at:
https://pulse.ly/qdksvvhhtg

Photo Credits:
Margarita Paz-Pedro: Keith Scott
Chantele Rilatos & Brian Walker II: photos courtesy of the artists