Opening this January, the Heard Museum presents Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School. Organized by The New York Historical, the exhibition showcases landscape paintings by the renowned contemporary Cherokee artist Kay WalkingStick in conversation with classic works from their collection of 19th-century Hudson River School paintings. This artistic dialogue spotlights how WalkingStick’s work connects to and diverges from the Hudson River School tradition. It also explores the agency of art in shaping humankind’s relationship to the land. Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School examines and highlights contemporary Indigenous art in the changing discourse of American art history, while also galvanizing critical discussions on land dispossession.
Image (above): Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee, b. 1935), Our Land Variation II, 2008. Oil stick on paper. On exhibition in Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School at the Heard Museum from January to May 2026. Miller Meigs Collections. Photograph by JSP Art Photography ©Kay WalkingStick.
Image (left): Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) Indian Encampment, Shoshone Village, 1860. Oil on millboard. The New York Historical, The Robert L. Stuart Collection, the gift of his widow Mrs. Mary Stuart, S-52
Exhibition Highlights
-
John Frederick Kensett (1816–1872), Pulpit Rock, Nahant (Nahant Rock and Seashore), 1859. Oil on canvas. The New York Historical, The Robert L. Stuart Collection, Gift of his widow Mrs. Mary Stuart, S-84.
-
Kay WalkingStick (b. 1935), Wampanoag Coast, Variation II, 2018. Oil on panel in two parts. Collection of Agnes Hsu-Tang, Ph.D., and Oscar Tang © Kay WalkingStick
-
Asher B. Durand (1796-1886), East Branch of the Ausable River, 1837-1878. Oil on canvas. Long term loan courtesy of Mr. Chet Schmitt, New Britain Museum of American Art, 2003.76LTL. Image courtesy of New Britain Museum of American Art.
-
Kay WalkingStick (b. 1935), Niagara, 2022. Oil on panel in two parts. The New York Historical, Purchased through the generosity of Agnes Hsu-Tang and Oscar Tang; Nancy Newcomb; Anonymous; Barry Barnett; Helen Appel; Belinda and Charles Bralver; Dorothy Tapper Goldman; Margi and Andrew Hofer; Louise Mirrer; Jennifer and John Monsky; Suzanne Peck and Brian Friedman; Pam and Scott Schafler; Barbara and Elliott Wagner; and Linda Ferber, 2023.2ab © Kay WalkingStick
-
Kay WalkingStick (b. 1935), July Low Water, 2010. Oil and palladium leaf on panel in two parts. Courtesy of the artist and Hales, London and New York. Photo by JSP Art Photography © Kay WalkingStick
Sponsors & Acknowledgements
-
Major Supporter
-
Exhibition Organizer
