The Coast Salish Museum of Fine Arts returns October 3rd, 2025 and runs through November! The Land Remembers will be presented in collaboration with the yəhaw̓ Indigenous Creatives Collective and curated by Mikaela Shafer. Check back here and at https://www.tcmofa.org/upcoming for more details as they come!

Exhibition Statement:

"The Land Remembers"

This exhibition explores the profound and sacred relationship between Indigenous communities and the land, emphasizing the ongoing work of rematriation and the Land Back movement. It celebrates how the land holds memory—both of our ancestors and of ourselves—and how these stories are alive within the landscape.

The artists featured in this exhibit will be using a diverse array of materials and mediums, including bones, cedar, beadwork, paintings, ceramics, and poetry, to share their personal and collective stories. These stories from the past and present serve as a powerful reminder of our enduring connection to the land. Through their work, the artists aim to evoke a sense of remembrance and reverence, encouraging visitors to reflect on their own relationship to the land and their place within this ongoing work of caring for the land.

We hope that everyone who experiences this exhibition leaves with a deeper awareness of indigenous peoples' connection to the land and the importance of honoring and restoring our relationship with it.

Featured Artists:

Sophia Anderson (Shoalwater Bay Tribe)

Alison Bremner (Tlingit)

Aganaq (Curyung Tribe)

Hexe Fey (Oglala Lakota)

Malia Peoples (Kanaka Maoli)

Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos)

Taylor White (Skokomish/Squaxin)

Amber Stephens (Puyallup )

Rachel Kopel (Tlingit)

About the curator: Mikaela Shafer

Mikaela Shafer (Hopi) is a mother, artist, and community builder in Olympia, Washington. Her work explores memory, healing, and cultural reconnecting through unconventional techniques like sewing, painting, and natural pigments. Focused on matrilineal storytelling, her mixed media paintings evoke home and meaningful places, emphasizing generational bonds. Recognized with awards from Santa Fe Indian Market and Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, she also leads initiatives supporting artists and indigenous storytelling.

CSMoFA is made possible thanks to funding from the Inspire Olympia Grant and by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission.