Angel M. Hinzo, Assistant Professor of History and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, has organized an exhibition for the Sheldon Museum of Art, which honors the visual sovereignty and everlasting presence of Native American communities. The exhibition "Visualizing Survivance, Visualizing Permanence" opened on January 21, 2025.
Professor Hinzo is a citizen of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska and was born into a military family in Sioux City, Iowa. Her father and mother met while serving in the Marine Corps, and she credits their service for shaping much of her childhood and making her who she is today. As a faculty member of the College of Arts and Sciences, Hinzo's research focuses on Ho-Chunk history and contemporary Native American experience.
She developed an interest in history when she was young and entertained the idea of taking museum studies so she could work at the Smithsonian someday. Once in college, Hinzo chose history as a major, later narrowing her focus to U.S. history. She applied and became a McNair scholar and chose Native American boarding schools as her research topic. "I knew some of my relatives had attended boarding schools, but I didn't know their history," Hinzo said. "That started my path on researching U.S. policies and Native American Studies."
With a doctorate in Native American Studies and expertise in U.S. federal Indian law and policy, Native American feminisms, archival research, Indigenous spiritual traditions, and decolonial theory and praxis, Hinzo is passionate about sharing her wealth of personal and professional wisdom with the students in her classroom. "I think it's important for people to know about the history and policies that shape their lives, and this field enables me to share those tools with others as an educator," Hinzo said.
In early 2024, a new educational opportunity arose when Christian Wurst, associate curator of exhibitions at the Sheldon Museum of Art, invited Hinzo to visit and asked if she would like to organize an exhibition from the museum's Native American collection. What followed was a yearlong collaboration.
Native American Studies is an interdisciplinary field, and as a lifelong supporter of the arts, Hinzo recognized that creating this exhibition could help viewers better understand the survivance and enduring presence of Native American artists and how they engage with politics and express their lived experiences.
Hinzo’s exhibition would conceptually complement and be in artistic dialogue with another presentation from the Bates College Museum of Art, "Exploding Native Inevitable," that the Sheldon Museum of Art planned to display at the same time.
Wurst provided Hinzo with the collection lists of Native American artwork and arranged for her to view and choose pieces in Sheldon’s observation lab. After Wurst shared the background behind a set of photographs from the Mid-American Arts Alliance taken at the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Hinzo felt the theme begin to emerge for the exhibition.
"These photographs were taken 75 years apart, and one of the ideas that stood out to me was the strength and fortitude of the people in the photos. Despite settler violence and land dispossession, the Sicangu Lakota Oyate, like many Native American communities, have survived and are not going anywhere. These ideas helped me to arrive at the theme of “Visualizing Survivance, Visualizing Permanence," Hinzo said.
Looking through the collection, Hinzo discovered a significant collection of artwork from contemporary artists in the last 60 years. She decided to focus on their work. "I wanted to showcase how these artists integrated Indigenous identity, culture, and experience into their art and the different forms that art can take," Hinzo said. "I like how this exhibit includes printmaking, photos, paintings, silverwork, and ceramics to show the different modes artists use for expression."
One print that Hinzo was especially excited to see was by Hulleah Tsinhnajinnie, a former professor and mentor. "I knew that I wanted to display her art within this exhibit since she was foundational to my experience as a student," Hinzo said. "My decision to use the term "Visualizing" in the exhibition's title is due to Hulleah Tsinhnajinnie's work and her discussion of visual sovereignty in Native American art."
Once she selected the pieces and submitted her exhibition proposal, Hinzo enjoyed collaborating with Wurst and the installation team on how to display the art pieces, write the stories on the text labels, and arrange the physical layout of the presentation. Understanding how viewers would enter the gallery and engage with the artwork was essential to communicating the theme's narrative.
"Dr. Hinzo was an enthusiastic collaborator. She came in with interesting ideas and was receptive to suggestions regarding the presentation. We relied on her knowledge of the subject matter, and she relied on our knowledge of organizing exhibitions," Wurst said.
Hinzo's exhibition, "Visualizing Survivance, Visualizing Permanence," honors the visual sovereignty of native American artists and tells a powerful story about the continued strength and everlasting presence of Native American communities.
She hopes that people will visit the exhibition and that the artwork will evoke an acknowledgment and remembrance of the history of this place and how we got to where we are today. "I also hope that this exhibition sparks joy and inspires Indigenous viewers to remember their strength during difficult times," Hinzo said.
"Visualizing Survivance, Visualizing Permanence," and "Exploding Native Inevitable," are on display at the Sheldon Museum of Art through July 13, 2025. Admission is free and open to the public.
