Free Program
Explore the galleries with this year’s gallery guide and engage with some of the artworks created by Indigenous artists on view at the PMA and explore connections to the people and world around us.
Plan Your day
10 a.m. and 11 a.m. | Story Telling with Wolastoqeyik artist and writer Mihku Paul : Say hello to Mihku Paul and engage in an interactive story telling session. (suitable for ages 10 and under)
1 to 4 p.m. | Create a Dream Catcher with Mi’kmaq artist Marissa Joly: Get creative and make your own dream catcher to take home!
2 to 4 p.m. | PMA Films presents a free screening of Sugarcane
Synopsis: A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.
2:30 to 3:15 p.m. | As We Are Gallery Talk: Maya Tihtiyas Attean
Join artist Maya Tihtiyas Attean (Penobscot) as part of a gallery talk series that invites the artists of the As We Are exhibition to share insights into their artistic practices, as well as those of their peers.
Meet the Artists
Mihku Paul is a Wolastoqeyik artist and writer born and raised on the Penobscot river. She is an enrolled member of Kingsclear First Nations, N.B. Canada and received both an Indigenous education from her traditional grandfather and a formal education in white schools. Mihku holds a BA and MFA, with study in human development, communication creative writing. She has worked more than two decades in Portland Public schools, presenting Waponahki culture and history for curriculum enrichment. Mihku also participated in the creation of the new Wab Studies Redux for Portland schools.
Maya Tihtiyas Attean (born 1994) is a Wabanaki artist, living and working in Portland, Maine. She grew up on Alnabe Menahan, the Penobscot Nation Reservation. Her work has evolved to use photography as a way of creating art that reflects her ancestry, resiliency, and culture. Her experience growing up on a reservation then migrating to living in a city has given her a unique perspective of two worlds that merge together through marrying techniques of multiple cultures within her work. She earned her BFA with honors in Photography in May of 2023 from Maine College of Art & Design. She continues to make images that seek to explore the intersection of the earth and those that live on it through the lens of time, trauma, and connection.
Marissa Joly is an indigenous visual artist residing in Durham, Maine. Her Wabanaki heritage holds a lot of inspiration for her creations. Nature, color, line, and organic shapes play big roles in her work. She aims to strike up conversations on spirituality and emotions brought forth through her use of color, patterning, and abstract designs and brings awareness through her use of cultural symbols.