Lyman Allyn Indigenous art exhibition asks what the land under New London means

The Lyman Allyn Indigenous art exhibition now on view in New London has a title that works like a question. The Land You Stand On: Contemporary Art of Native and Indigenous Identity opened on 10 October 2026 at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Finding Connecticut reported. Eleven artists. One shared problem to work through in public: how does land shape who you are, and who gets to say so?

Check the closing date before you plan a trip, because listings disagree. The museum’s own exhibition page lists the run as 10 October 2026 to 24 January 2027, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states. Finding Connecticut and the North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association list a 10 January 2027 closing instead, Finding Connecticut reported and NARM lists. Both dates appear in current listings, so confirm with the museum if you’re travelling in January.

Inside the Lyman Allyn Indigenous art exhibition

The full title matters here. This is contemporary art of Native and Indigenous identity, not a historical survey and not an artefact show. The museum describes the work as celebrating cultural beauty while exploring deep connections between land, place and identity, centring Indigenous expression and perspectives that extend beyond geographic and cultural borders and challenge older frameworks and colonial boundaries, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states.

NARM phrases the core idea a touch differently: place-based belonging, explored both historically and conceptually, with each artist contributing a distinct narrative and lived experience that invites reflection on how land shapes art, identity, memory and community, NARM states.

The artist list, as the museum gives it, is: Julia Buffalohead, Aymar Ccopacatty, Joshua Carter, Renee Castro, Hartman Deetz, Felicia Gabaldon, Guido Garaycochea, Julia Marden, Marianne Nicolson, Indira Urrutia and Brook Waldron, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum lists. Works come from the artists themselves, from the museum’s collection and from Art Bridges, Finding Connecticut reported.

One work anchors the publicity. Brooke Waldron’s We Look to the Stars and Find Ourselves (2026), acrylic on birch panel, illustrates both the Finding Connecticut announcement and the NARM listing, Finding Connecticut shows.

Who curated it, and why that matters

The The Land You Stand On exhibition was co-curated by Brooke Waldron of Cedar Nation, Kristine Holohan of Pattagansett Art Center, and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Finding Connecticut reported. The museum’s page gives the same three-way credit, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states.

Cedar Nation describes itself as a meeting ground of artists, organisers and knowledge keepers working together to transform the deficient representation of contemporary Native people in galleries and institutions, Cedar Nation states. Pattagansett Art Center, the museum notes, is an artist-run, community-centred organisation rooted in wellness and environmentally sustainable models created through the arts, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states.

That structure — a Native-led collective and a community art centre curating alongside the museum, rather than the museum curating about them — is the exhibition’s argument in organisational form. You can agree or disagree with the work on the walls. The credit line already tells you who held the pen.

Indigenous artists and place-based belonging, in the programme too

The Indigenous artists and place-based belonging theme runs through the events calendar, not just the galleries.

Opening day, Saturday 10 October, started at 1 p.m. with a workshop led by Felicia Gabaldon, an artist talk by Renee Castro and a performance by Indira Urrutia, before an opening reception from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., Finding Connecticut reported. The museum lists the reception the same way: members free, non-members $10, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states. Cedar Nation adds that the reception featured an art demonstration and performance with Indira Urrutia, Cedar Nation states.

Three November dates follow, per Finding Connecticut: a lettering workshop with Hartman Deetz on 7 November, a cultural intelligence workshop with Joshua Carter on 14 November, and a curatorial tour led by Brooke Waldron on 21 November, Finding Connecticut reported.

Practical details, for readers nearby: the museum is at 625 Williams Street in New London, Finding Connecticut reported. It was established in 1926. Support for the exhibition comes from an anonymous foundation, Art Bridges, the Frank Loomis Palmer Fund, the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut and the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Finding Connecticut reported. The museum’s page names Art Bridges and the Community Foundation for Eastern Connecticut as generous supporters, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum states.

Analysis: Regional museums run identity exhibitions all the time. Most are forgettable. What gives this one a chance of sticking is specificity — named living artists, a Native-led co-curator, workshops taught by the artists themselves rather than docent talks about them. Go in November, when the tour and workshops are running, and you hear the argument from the people who made it. Go in January and, whichever closing date proves right, check first.

Sources

1. Finding Connecticut — “Lyman Allyn Art Museum opens Indigenous art exhibition in New London” — 8 October 2026 — https://findingconnecticut.com/lyman-allyn-art-museum-opens-indigenous-art-exhibition-in-new-london/
2. Lyman Allyn Art Museum — “The Land You Stand On: Contemporary Art of Native and Indigenous Identity” — exhibition page, updated 13 October 2026 — https://www.lymanallyn.org/the-land-you-stand/
3. North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association — “The Land You Stand On: Contemporary Art of Native and Indigenous Identity” — October 2026 — https://narmassociation.org/the-land-you-stand-on-contemporary-art-of-native-and-indigenous-identity/
4. Cedar Nation — Home / Exhibitions: The Land You Stand On — October 2026 — https://www.cedarnation.org/