Floral Resilience

Across time, flowers have been a source of inspiration for artists, not only for their beauty but also for their symbolic—and sometimes secret—meanings. This is true for Native artists and makers, who have and continue to use floral designs as a visual language to preserve their culture and history.

Featuring basketry, beadwork, pottery, weavings, and paintings – most by Native artists – Floral Resilience explores how flowers continue to be a symbol of Native resiliency.

Oscar Howe (Mazuha Hokshina) (Yanktonai Dakota (Sioux), 1915–1983). Dance of the Double Woman, c. 1950. Watercolor on paper, 19 9/16 × 19 3/4”. Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Museum purchase, 1950.11. 2023 By permission of the Oscar Howe Family