Tamarind Institute at the University of New Mexico presents an exhibition titled, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: All My Relations through April 10, 2026.
The exhibition honors the late American artist and longtime Tamarind collaborator, featuring 20 lithographs created at Tamarind between 1980 and 2022, alongside works by artists influenced by Smith, including Jeffrey Gibson, Rose B. Simpson and Emmi Whitehorse.
The show highlights Smith’s decades-long relationship with Tamarind, one of the institute's longest collaborations with a woman artist, as well as her lasting influence on contemporary printmaking and on generations of Indigenous artists.
The exhibition is titled after Smith’s final collaboration with Tamarind, All My Relations I + II (2022), a two-part accordion book that reflects her lifelong commitment to community, activism and interconnectedness. Throughout her career, Smith used bold abstraction, layered symbolism and text to address issues of Native identity, land use, environmental responsibility and the ongoing impact of colonialism.
“All My Relations offers one of infinite ways we will now and in the future celebrate how Jaune reshaped our own world, and the cultural and communal landscape through a life of fearless individuality, fellowship, activism, and collaboration,” said Marissa Fassano, Tamarind Institute gallery director.
Political and environmental issues were central to Jaune’s life, and her community was continually present in her practice. Works on view at Tamarind include Homage to Chief Seattle, titled after Chief Seattle’s 1854 call to protect the land of his ancestors in the wake of its ongoing destruction.
Smith once shared that Chief Sealth (Seattle) of the Duwamish Tribe spoke in 1854 of the mass destruction of the land. Saying “'his’ course is destruction, ‘he’ spoils what the spirit who gave us this country made beautiful and clean, ‘he’ takes more and more and dirties what he leaves…This destruction is an ever-present theme in my work and in my life.”
An enrolled Salish member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Smith was born in 1940 and earned a Master of Arts degree from UNM in 1980. Over a five-decade career, she became known for powerful paintings and prints that confronted race, consumerism and the exploitation of natural resources while reclaiming Indigenous narratives within contemporary art.
Tirelessly advocating for Indigenous artists, using her platform to elevate others and expand opportunities within the art world. Many of the artists featured in the exhibition were directly influenced by her mentorship, collaboration and advocacy.
In 2023, she became the first Native artist to receive a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art, when they mounted Jaune Quick-to-See Smith: Memory Map, a comprehensive exhibit of the artist’s work to date. Her final curatorial project, Indigenous Identities: Here, Now & Always, is on display at the Zimmerli Museum at Rutgers University. She remains one of the most important and celebrated artists today.
“Jaune Quick-to-See Smith began her exploration of printmaking at Tamarind Institute while she was a graduate student at The University of New Mexico,” said Diana Gaston, the director of Tamarind Institute. “She collaborated with the workshop over a forty-year period and also sought out Tamarind-trained printers around the country to expand her knowledge of collaborative printmaking. She was an extraordinary advocate for all creative people, never missing an opportunity to advance her fellow artists.”
A public program exploring Smith’s artistic community and influence will be held April 2 at 5:30 p.m., featuring Neal Ambrose-Smith, Emmi Whitehorse and George Alexander, moderated by UNM professor Subhankar Banerjee.
Tamarind Institute, a division of UNM’s College of Fine Arts, is internationally recognized for advancing collaborative printmaking through artist residencies, education and public programs
For more information on the Tamarind Institute please visit tamarind.unm.edu and for more information on Jaune Quick-To-See Smith visit jaunequick-to-seesmith.com.
