Call for Community Contributions
UA Little Rock Downtown, in collaboration with the Sequoyah National Research Center (SNRC), is seeking community contributions to an upcoming exhibit Native (Mis)representations.
We invite the residents of Arkansas who are tribally affiliated with an American Indian and/or Alaska Native tribe to submit their photographic self-portraits. The self-portraits can be “selfies” or self-arranged portraits taken by another person. The content of the photos is entirely up to the photographed person. Our goal is simple: We want to show how American Indians and Alaska Natives who call Arkansas home see themselves and want to be seen by others. We invite individual or group photos (friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers, etc.). The photos should be high resolution, at least 300 DPI.
The submitted photos will be included in the Native (Mis)representations exhibit. The exhibit aims to deconstruct stereotypes that over centuries have contributed to the false ahistorical narratives about American Indians and Alaska Natives. It will feature a selection of objects from the Hirschfelder-Molin Native American Stereotypes Collection, donated to SNRC by Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin in 2012. Juxtaposed with objects from the Hirschfelder-Molin Collection, the submitted self-portraits will provide a counter-narrative presenting how Native people see themselves and want to be seen.
If you have questions and/or want to participate in the project, email Marta Cieslak (UA Little Rock Downtown) at [email protected].
The exhibit will be on display at UA Little Rock Downtown (333 President Clinton Ave. Little Rock), the community engagement center of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, from August through December 2025. SNRC is an archival and educational institution that houses one of the largest collections of modern Native American expression in the world.