In preparation for its Winter 2025 exhibition Woven Being: Art for Zhegagoynak/Chicagoland, The Block recently welcomed two new Terra Foundation Fellows: Marisa Cruz Branco (Isleta Pueblo) and Teagan Harris (Cherokee Nation), who will support the preparation and presentation of the exhibition. Marisa brings a passion for Indigenous art history, Surrealism, representations of women in art, miniatures, and unconventional book forms to her work with The Block. We sat down with Marisa to learn about how she’ll apply those passions to her role as Curatorial Fellow.
1. What does your fellowship with The Block entail?
I am a curatorial fellow for Woven Being, so I will be assisting the curatorial team with various things related to the exhibition publication, gift-giving, labels, artist and contractor payments, and general organizational tasks. My fellowship lasts 18 months, so I’ll be able to stay on through the run of Woven Being and help with other things as they come up.
2. Can you tell us a bit about your background and your field of study?
I studied Art History at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. In my undergrad studies, I was especially interested in interrogating ideas surrounding animals and animacy, and how these ideas intersected with decolonial and Indigenous theoretical frameworks. Ultimately, I explored some of these ideas in my thesis, “Mating in Captivity: The Praying Mantis in Surrealist Art,” which I was fortunate to write with the guidance of Bill Anthes. My final year of college, I received a Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). At LACMA, I worked under Bindu Gude, who at the time was the curator of South and Southeast Asian Art. While working with her, I catalogued a new acquisition of about 200 Indian movie posters and other film-related ephemera and was able to support her research into the history of South Asian cinema. After moving to Chicago, I worked at Kavi Gupta Gallery as an Artist Relations Liaison. I was lucky enough to be on Marie Watt’s team at the gallery, organizing the opening and other programming for her solo show Sky Dances Light. This exhibition featured a series of interactive suspended sculptures called “jingle clouds,” which were covered in rolled tin jingles. Throughout the run of the exhibition, I was able to organize three different dance activations of the work. During this time, Marie Watt introduced me to the Center for Native Futures, which has continued to be an important part of my community and engagement in the Chicago art scene.
3. What themes have emerged through your career in the arts?
In all these different settings, it has been important to me to consider the nature of the institutions that I work within, paying close attention to those who have historically been excluded or ignored. Whether in the context of a gallery or a museum, I think one of the most salient recurring themes has been the idea of interrogating accepted practices and exhibition strategies and identifying the often colonial or patriarchal roots of these conventions.
4. What particularly interests you about working within the context of a campus art museum?
I think that museums and educational institutions are very connected. They have both historically upheld harmful traditions and reinforced social order, but simultaneously created space for radical and provocative ideas. As a campus museum, we have the unique opportunity to grapple with the legacies of both of these types of institutions and attempt to create a more thoughtful, ethical vision of what they could offer to their communities.
5. What drew you to the Block Museum and Woven Being?
My family is Isleta Pueblo, and I was born on Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico. Because of this background and the communities I grew up around, Indigenous activism and art has always been incredibly important to me. In the past, I’ve found it really fulfilling to be able to work on projects that support those causes, whether it was working on a COVID relief team on Navajo Nation or collaborating with Marie Watt to plan exhibition activations. Since moving to Chicago, I have loved learning more about this area’s diverse Native communities, and Woven Being’s focus has provided me an amazing opportunity to get to know the Indigenous populations of Chicagoland through their art, writing, and material culture.
6. What museum exhibitions or programs (outside the Block) have inspired you lately?
Recently, I was lucky enough to go to Italy for the first time (no, I did not go to the Venice Biennale). My very tolerant friends allowed me to plan our travels almost exclusively around paintings and sculptures that I had long admired and wanted to see in person. My personal favorites were in Florence, where I got to see Artemisia Gentileschi’s 1620 Judith Slaying Holofernes, Titian’s Venus of Urbino, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes, and Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus. I felt very inspired by the experience of being able to see these works I felt so familiar with in person, and was surprised by how many details and nuances there were to discover. I always love to be reminded that artworks are not static; they will change depending where, how, when, and why you are viewing them.
7. Is there a piece in The Block’s collection that’s stuck with you or resonated in some way?
I’m really excited about the recent Cara Romero acquisitions—I’ve been following her work for a while and specifically loved the Amber Morningstar photo from the First American Girl series. I always find practical effects in film and photography super interesting, and I loved learning about the mechanics of how the photo was taken. It struck me partially because it feels very different than her other work, many of which show subjects dynamically posed in beautiful, complex backgrounds. I was thinking about this departure from her usual approach to setting. I looked into the rest of the First American Girl series, which features four other photos, similarly posed and arranged within simple, built environments. I initially looked at these photos as a clever appropriation of Barbie and American Girl Doll aesthetics, a commentary on the commodification of Indigenous culture and femininity. But I feel like that analysis doesn’t entirely capture the presence that the women in the photos are able to convey, and the very real importance of the items they choose to display in these images. I thought this series was so beautiful and visually striking, and I’m curious to hear other peoples’ thoughts on it as well.
8. What are you most excited to contribute to Woven Being?
I hope I am able to offer my passion for Indigenous art and artists to this project, and I’m very excited to see the publication and exhibition come together!
