Between Two Worlds: Making Sense of Modern Life from Indigenous Perspectives
Carlin Bear Don’t Walk, Allison Begay, Danielle SeeWalker
Curated by Nayana LaFond
October 3rd, 2025 - February 1st, 2026
This group exhibit seeks to highlight the ways in which Indigenous artists are discussing modern ideas and themes while honoring tradition and bringing new things forward. What is the next logical step in the conversation about contemporary Indigenous art beyond “we’re still here”?
About the Artists
Carlin Bear Don’t Walk is an award-winning Crow & Northern Cheyenne Artist from the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Busby, Montana. The passion behind the purpose is wielding the power to inspire and motivate through the context of creation. Giving viewers a glimpse into that Reservation window where I come from. My Art is an expression of authentic narratives, imperative to where I live, blended with energetic pigments, reflecting experiences of my ancestors and relatives. It is true to form, true to self and real on every level because it embodies the essence of my existence from the perspective of my people. I want to represent for my community and be their voice, to tell their story in a way nobody has done it before. I create with the intent to uplift those in need, to build my community up with positivity through expression, action and demonstration.
Allison Begay is a Native American artist originally from Steamboat, Arizona and now currently resides in Milford, Massachusetts. His work explores the relationship between nature and technology through abstract tribal art. Begay received his Associate’s Degree for Lithography at Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Begay works with Adobe Illustrator, acrylic paint, watercolor and oil paint. Allison’s inspirations come from his Navajo Cultural Heritage, his love for his family and music!
Danielle SeeWalker is a Hunkpapa Lakota citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and currently resides in Denver, Colorado. She is a multidisciplinary artist, muralist, writer, businesswoman, former Chair Commissioner of the Denver American Indian Commission and most importantly, a mother. In her artistic practices, Danielle works across disciplines to explore the intersections of Native American stereotypes, microaggressions, and colonialist systems, both historically and in contemporary society. Drawing on au courant color palettes, expressionistic art strategies, and her Lakota traditions, SeeWalker spins her work into a contemporary vision to elevate historical perspectives as told from the side not often heard. Her passion to redirect the narrative to an accurate and insightful representation of contemporary Native America is centric to her both her artwork and community involvement. Danielle is also a freelance writer and published her first book titled “Still Here” in 2020. She is also co-founder of “The Red Road Project” which is a photo/film-documentary project that documents what it means to be Native American in the 21st century by capturing inspiring and positive stories of people and communities within Indian Country. In 2022, Danielle was the recipient of the Mayor’s Excellence in Arts & Culture Innovation Award and most recently received an Emmy Award for her work on a documentary piece with Rocky Mountain PBS called “A New Chapter”.
Website: www.seewalker.com
Instagram: @seewalker_ART
Pronouns: she/her/wíŋyáŋ
About the Curator
Nayana LaFond is a curator, arts organizer and multi-disciplinary artist and human rights advocate living and working in Massachusetts. She holds an associates degree in Visual Arts from Greenfield Community College and is currently a Frances Perkins Scholar studying Art History and Museum Studies at Mount Holyoke College.
Nayana has been a curator and arts organizer for over 25 years including as founding primary curator for the Whitney Center for the Arts where she remained supervising curator for 8 years. In addition to curating and managing a long list of galleries and other arts spaces in massachusetts she serves on the executive board of directors for Artist Organized Art and Stavros Center for Independent living.Nayana is an advisory member for the Native Youth Empowerment Fund sits on boards and committees for several other arts and cultural organizations. Nayana was the 2023 recipient of the Katharine F. Erskine Award in Art and culture. Her personal artwork has been featured in publications, on television and in movies including the cover of Art New England’s January-February 2024 edition.
Nayana is best known for her ongoing painting series titled “Portraits in RED: Missing & Murdered Indigenous Peoples Painting Project” which is currently on display at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Art in Springfield MA, the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip WA, the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Chicago IL and will also be at the Danforth Museum for the Fall of 2025. She has had the pleasure of speaking about human rights and art at distinguished institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Smith College, The University of Vancouver WA among others. Her human rights advocacy work through the arts has made significant contributions to raising awareness and promoting change in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Nayana’s curatorial work and personal work often confront topics related to identity and human rights. Nayana is an enrolled citizen of the Metis Nation of Ontario.