Art and Identity Converge in Queering Indigeneity at The M

On October 11, 2025, the Minnesota Museum of American Art will open Queering Indigeneity, a groundbreaking exhibition that centers 2-Spirit, Native queer, and gender-expansive artists from the Upper Midwest. The project, led by guest curator Penny Kagigebi of White Earth Ojibwe, reflects years of work to build visibility and community through Indigenous art.

The exhibition brings together artists whose work speaks to identity, survival, and belonging. It includes Sharon Day, Ryan Young, Delia Touché, Awanigiizhik Bruce, Niibawi Ajijaak, Awanaabe Syverson, Zoe Allen, and others who explore what it means to live and create as 2-Spirit and queer Indigenous people. Their pieces move between tradition and innovation, revealing the ways culture continues to adapt and thrive.

For Kagigebi, Queering Indigeneity is both personal and collective. As a Queer 2-Spirit artist and community organizer, she has spent decades working to restore cultural practices and visibility for 2-Spirit people. Her work in quillwork and birchbark basketry connects her to her ancestors while passing knowledge to younger generations. That sense of continuity is central to the exhibition.

“There’s a confluence of beautiful potential when 2-Spirit/Native queer and gender-expansive relatives fully embody their gifts; however, it’s been disrupted by boarding school-infused–homophobia and health disparities in our communities,” Kagigebi says. “The Queering Indigeneity exhibition offers one pathway for 2-Spirit cultural reclamation. We come into this life with gifts and 2-Spirit medicine for healthy and vibrant communities while struggling to survive being here.”

Through every piece, the exhibition asks visitors to consider how art can be a form of care and survival. It doesn’t just show what 2-Spirit and queer Indigenous artists create, it shows how they build and sustain community through that creativity.

Queering Indigeneity runs through August 16, 2026. More than a museum event, it’s a statement of presence and a commitment to telling the whole story of Indigenous life in this region.

Opening Night: October 11, 2025, 4–9 p.m. at The M, 350 Robert Street N, St. Paul, MN.

For more information, visit mmaa.org.