Danielle SeeWalker: But We Have Something to Say

History Colorado Center, Denver, CO

Ballantine Gallery

(Feb 2024 - Sept 2024)​

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With Danielle SeeWalker: But We Have Something to Say, we wanted to create an exhibition that does more than display art — it creates a space where Native voices speak directly, powerfully, and unapologetically. Danielle SeeWalker, an enrolled citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, uses bold colors and large-scale portraits to confront the stereotypes and misrepresentations that have long shaped mainstream understandings of Native identity.

As exhibit developers, our goal was to place her contemporary work in conversation with objects from History Colorado’s collection — items like historic flour sacks and other everyday materials that reveal how Native peoples were made hyper-visible as caricatures while their lived realities were ignored. By bringing these materials together, the exhibition asks visitors to question how museums have told Native stories in the past, and how we can do better today.

From the start, community collaboration was central. Working closely with Danielle and Felicia Bartley, Assistant Curator of Indigenous Culture & Heritage, we built an exhibition that incorporates Lakota language into its interpretive text, so that visitors not only see the art but also encounter words and phrases that affirm cultural continuity. This decision was intentional: it underscores that Native languages are living, dynamic, and vital to contemporary expression. The installation itself was designed to feel immersive and provocative — the vibrant tones of Danielle’s work command attention, while the juxtaposition with historical materials grounds the show in the legacies that continue to shape Native life in Colorado and beyond.

For us as exhibit developers, this project was about shifting the frame. Instead of speaking about Native communities, we positioned the gallery so that Danielle and her art speak for themselves. The result is a show that challenges, teaches, and celebrates — one that invites every visitor to consider not just what stories have been told, but whose voices have been silenced, and what it means when those voices are finally given the space to be heard.