Origins
1839 - 1900Instrumental
Democracy
1839 - 2020
We the People
1900 - 1950Andy Everson, citizen of the K’Omoks Nation, holds an image of his grandmother who played Princess Naida in Edward S. Curtis’s film, “In the Land of the Headhunters.” CIPX Seattle Art Museum, 2016 from the series Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange (CIPX)
Democracy
OngoingJustice for All
1950-2000Digital Democracy
2000 - 2022



Photography and
Civic Engagement
Coming Soon
Moderator
Will Wilson’s art projects center around the continuation and transformation of customary indigenous cultural practice. He is a Diné photographer and trans-customary artist who spent his formative years living on the Navajo Nation. Wilson studied photography, sculpture, and art history at the University of New Mexico (MFA, Photography, 2002) and Oberlin College (BA, Studio Art and Art History, 1993). In 2007, Wilson won the Native American Fine Art Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum, in 2010 the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Sculpture, and in 2016 the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for Photography. Wilson has held visiting professorships at the Institute of American Indian Arts (1999-2000), Oberlin College (2000-01), and the University of Arizona (2006-08). In 2017, Wilson’s received the NM Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2020, Wilson was the Doran Artist in Residence at the Yale University Art Gallery. Wilson is Program Head of Photography, Santa Fe Community College.
Sign Up For Updates
Get the latest updates as we examine photography and lens-based media through interviews, lectures, and critical essays.
The programs will include free and open-to-the-public programs and content in 2022-23. Stay tuned for more information as we unfold this exciting lecture series for our audiences.
View and download CENTER’s 2022 Program Guide.
The Democratic Lens lecture series will include six sections, each with a corresponding humanities theme, historical era, and selection of contributing scholars. In alignment with NEH Special Initiative’s “A More Perfect Union” theme, scholars will present photographs that connect audiences to the diverse cultures, landscapes, histories, and individuals who collectively shaped the nation. The Democratic Lens will prioritize underrepresented histories to emphasize the diversity of the citizenry. We will present accounts that illustrate the challenges our country has endured and the stories of how Americans have worked together to overcome them.
Schedule Highlights
Subscribe Now for more information.
INTERVIEWS:
Summer & Fall 2022
SCHOLAR LECTURES:
November 20, 2022