Olympia, WA — The annual Coast Salish Museum of Fine Arts (CSMoFA) is set to bring Indigenous futurism to audiences with its upcoming exhibition, Temporal: Stories of Indigenous Present, Re-imagining Indigenous Futures. This multimedia event opens on October 2, 2026, at the Thurston County Museum of Fine Arts (TCMOFA) and serves as a radical act of reclamation for Indigenous stories and arts.
Curated by Mikaela Shafer, a Hopi mother, artist, and community advocate, CSMoFA stands as a bold re-envisioning of museum space. In collaboration with the Indigenous Creatives Collective, this exhibition embodies a commitment to uplifting Indigenous voices and stories, pushing against the conventional portrayals that often reduce Indigenous peoples to relics of the past.
Temporal invites visitors to confront the disconnect that many institutions impose, which keeps Indigenous experiences confined to history rather than recognizing their diverse presence in contemporary life. The curated works prompt an exploration of what it means to define ourselves on our own terms, reclaim our stories, and celebrate our enduring ties to community, culture, and land.
“This exhibit encourages the artists to take up space and command the present and envision a future where our stories are told by us, not for us,” said Shafer. “This exhibition is an opportunity for real connection, understanding, and radical storytelling that reflects our identities in our own words in our own way.”
The exhibition features a diverse group of multigenerational artists from many tribal nations who currently reside across the Pacific Northwest and diverse art forms, including performance art, larger-than-life installation, digital and video art, 2-D artwork, and customary Indigenous art forms such as weaving and beadwork.
Participating artists
- Tammi Dupis (Salish-Kootenai)
- Justin Olmstead (Santa Ynez Chumash)
- Liz Chikayaasix̂ Morrow (Unangax̂, Naknek)
- Epiphany Couch (Puyallup/Yakama)
- Carissa Eich (Diné)
- Cynthia Matherson (Comanche)
- Traci Jones (Tulalip)
- Inanna kʷaɁowišč tyee McCarty (Makah/Tsawout)
- Mikiʻala Souza (Kanaka ʻŌiwi)
- Megita Denton (Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan)*
- Daniel Smith (Swinomish)
- Woodrow Hunt (Klamath/Modoc/Cherokee)
- Ash Franz (Makah)
- Stefan Gonzales (Piro/Manso/Tiwa)*
All artists in this exhibition are part of the Indigenous Creatives Collective’s Indigenous creative roster. ICC is a driving force behind this exhibition, committed to supporting Indigenous creative sovereignty and rematriating two acres of urban land, connecting communities through art. ICC prioritizes the voices of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and LGBTQIA+ individuals, and young people, uplifting Afro-Indigenous, multiracial, and displaced urban Natives, and all who have been overlooked.
CSMoFA is funded in part by generous support from the Inspire Olympia Grant and the Washington State Arts Commission.
* The Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation (Texas) and the Piro/Manso/Tiwa Indian Tribe of the Pueblo of San Juan Guadalupe (New Mexico) are not federally or state-recognized tribes; however, the Piro/Manso/Tiwa Tribe is currently petitioning for federal recognition.
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