The Reading Public Museum is proud to present Re-Discovering Native America: Stories in Motion with The Red Road Project, a compelling photo-docuseries on view from February 7 through May 3, 2026. This exhibition highlights inspiring stories of present-day Native American individuals and communities, providing a platform for them to share their past, present, and future in their own voices — a perspective too often excluded from the historical record.
Featuring more than ninety color photographs and a video, Re-Discovering Native America explores contemporary narratives of Indigenous communities across the United States. This is a nationally traveling exhibition organized by Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California. The exhibition is locally supported, in part, by Mr. Joseph O’Keefe in honor of Mr. Carl L. Steele.
The exhibition is the result of more than a decade of work by multicultural artist duo Danielle SeeWalker (Hunkpapa and Oglala Lakota) and Carlotta Cardana, founders of The Red Road Project. Since 2013, the artists have documented Native stories that speak to themes of Language, Land Connection, Reservation Life, Urban Natives, Two Worlds, Activism, and Seventh Generation. Their intention is to redirect the narrative toward an accurate and insightful representation of contemporary Native America, while reclaiming language and stories lost to stereotypes and erasure.
Curator Scott Schweigert remarked that, “this exhibition powerfully challenges long-standing stereotypes by centering the lived experiences of Indigenous people today. By featuring over a decade of work by The Red Road Project, The Museum invites our visitors to move beyond the historical lens and engage with the vibrant, evolving, and resilient voices of contemporary Indigenous communities.”
In February 2024, The Red Road Project conducted a residency in the Bay Area, gathering new photographs and stories of Indigenous communities based in Northern California. These works, alongside national stories collected since 2013, are featured in this installation at RPM.
Through this ongoing series, The Red Road Project illustrates how Native American tribes and nations have endured and resisted centuries of cultural suppression, while powerfully expressing the resilience, revitalization, and continuity of Indigenous life today.
The Reading Public Museum is a dynamic center of lifelong learning, that collects, preserves, and interprets objects of art, science, and civilization to engage, educate, and enlighten current and future generations from our diverse communities. RPM is supported in part by grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading, PA.
Admission per day is: $14 adults (18-64), $8 children/seniors/college students (w/ID) and free to Members and children three years old and under. Currently enrolled Reading School District students and up to five accompanying guests receive free regular Museum admission and free admission to public Neag Planetarium shows with proof of enrollment. The Museum is open daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit Online: www.readingpublicmuseum.org.
