Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A dedicated team of curators has been rethinking how Native American art is displayed at the de Young. This short documentary takes you behind the scenes of their collaborative journey to reimagine our Native American art galleries, which reopen to the public on August 26, 2025.
Plan your visit today: ticketing.famsf.org/events/0191818b-e64c-6b6a-7ab6-00280806cda1?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=NAAFilm&utm_id=NAAFilm
Subscribe to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: youtube.com/@FAMSF?sub_confirmation=1
About “Rooted in Place: California Native Art”
famsf.org/exhibitions/rooted-california-native-art
Part of the reimagining of our Arts of Indigenous America galleries, this is the first in a series of exhibitions that highlights specific regions of Native California. This installation explores the interconnections between art, ceremony, and the land in the Karuk, Yurok, Hupa, Tolowa, and Wiyot communities of northwestern California. The exhibition presents collection highlights alongside major loans, acquisitions, and commissions by contemporary artists.
Watch More
Alaska Native Art
youtube.com/watch?v=X5uMQNFScJM&list=PL5eMm5mgGrVDg_GUEi7NipzNB9x05Xrth
Our multipart docuseries on Alaska Native Art features cultural practitioners from different regions of Alaska, and explores these cross-cultural themes: Family, Sustenance, Transportation, and Celebration. Their voices enliven the collection and connect historical objects to contemporary communities.
A conversation on Native American Art + Pueblo Pottery
youtu.be/tkOyuF50t3M?si=VwZl3BG-4V3i7FpB
Spanning nearly one thousand years of artistic creativity, Native American Art from the Thomas W. Weisel Family Collection documents and celebrates a transformative gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hear from co-editor Deana Dartt (Coastal Band, Chumash). Contributing authors Bobby Silas (Hopi) and Deborah Jojola (Isleta/Jemez Pueblo) will speak about Ancestral and historic Pueblo pottery. The program will conclude with a panel featuring members of the book’s Pueblo Advisors group, Governor Arden Kucate (Zuni), Brian Vallo (Acoma), and Joseph R. Aguilar (San Ildefonso), with co-editor Bruce Bernstein.
The fearless art practice of Leilah Babirye
youtube.com/watch?v=GmtWRMAmxY4
Step inside Leilah Babirye’s studio, and see how she fearlessly transforms wood, ceramic, and found materials into ambitious sculptures that reflect her LGBTQ+ community. Born in Kampala, Uganda, and based in Brooklyn, New York, contemporary artist Leilah Babirye is known for her highly expressive, ambiguously gendered sculptures. Featuring interviews with the artist and Curator of African Art Natasha Becker, this short documentary explores Leilah Babirye’s artistic process, connections to art from west and central Africa, and new work for Leilah Babirye: We Have a History.
A dedicated team of curators has been rethinking how Native American art is displayed at the de Young. This short documentary takes you behind the scenes of their collaborative journey to reimagine our Native American art galleries, which reopen to the public on August 26, 2025.
Plan your visit today: ticketing.famsf.org/events/0191818b-e64c-6b6a-7ab6-00280806cda1?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=NAAFilm&utm_id=NAAFilm
Subscribe to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: youtube.com/@FAMSF?sub_confirmation=1
About “Rooted in Place: California Native Art”
famsf.org/exhibitions/rooted-california-native-art
Part of the reimagining of our Arts of Indigenous America galleries, this is the first in a series of exhibitions that highlights specific regions of Native California. This installation explores the interconnections between art, ceremony, and the land in the Karuk, Yurok, Hupa, Tolowa, and Wiyot communities of northwestern California. The exhibition presents collection highlights alongside major loans, acquisitions, and commissions by contemporary artists.
Watch More
Alaska Native Art
youtube.com/watch?v=X5uMQNFScJM&list=PL5eMm5mgGrVDg_GUEi7NipzNB9x05Xrth
Our multipart docuseries on Alaska Native Art features cultural practitioners from different regions of Alaska, and explores these cross-cultural themes: Family, Sustenance, Transportation, and Celebration. Their voices enliven the collection and connect historical objects to contemporary communities.
A conversation on Native American Art + Pueblo Pottery
youtu.be/tkOyuF50t3M?si=VwZl3BG-4V3i7FpB
Spanning nearly one thousand years of artistic creativity, Native American Art from the Thomas W. Weisel Family Collection documents and celebrates a transformative gift to the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Hear from co-editor Deana Dartt (Coastal Band, Chumash). Contributing authors Bobby Silas (Hopi) and Deborah Jojola (Isleta/Jemez Pueblo) will speak about Ancestral and historic Pueblo pottery. The program will conclude with a panel featuring members of the book’s Pueblo Advisors group, Governor Arden Kucate (Zuni), Brian Vallo (Acoma), and Joseph R. Aguilar (San Ildefonso), with co-editor Bruce Bernstein.
The fearless art practice of Leilah Babirye
youtube.com/watch?v=GmtWRMAmxY4
Step inside Leilah Babirye’s studio, and see how she fearlessly transforms wood, ceramic, and found materials into ambitious sculptures that reflect her LGBTQ+ community. Born in Kampala, Uganda, and based in Brooklyn, New York, contemporary artist Leilah Babirye is known for her highly expressive, ambiguously gendered sculptures. Featuring interviews with the artist and Curator of African Art Natasha Becker, this short documentary explores Leilah Babirye’s artistic process, connections to art from west and central Africa, and new work for Leilah Babirye: We Have a History.
