Bears Ears: Living Land

FAIN: GE-278346-21

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (Los Angeles, CA 90007-4057)
Danielle Sommer (Project Director: September 2020 to June 2023)
Elizabeth Andres (Project Director: June 2023 to May 2024)
Chris Weisbart (Project Director: May 2024 to present)

Development of a temporary and traveling exhibition on the history and culture of tribes of the Bears Ears region in southeaster Utah.

Bears Ears: Living Land is produced by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. Co-curated by representatives of the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, the Pueblo of Zuni, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah Ouray, and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, this will be the first exhibition to present the significance of the Bears Ears region—located in southeastern Utah—from the perspective of these Tribes. Bears Ears will show how Indigenous histories are created through the relationships between objects, people, and land, and provide visitors with a view of the region’s cultural richness. Travelling versions of the exhibition unique to each participating Tribe will be displayed in their cultural centers. Grant funds will support compensation for collaborators; development costs for travelling exhibitions; out-of-state research; refinement of the exhibition structure; and preliminary design work.