TACOMA, WA.- Tacoma Art Museum’s major summer exhibition, Carving a Legacy: Innovation in Coast Salish Art marks the ongoing revival of Native American art in the South Puget Sound region. The exhibition, which opens during Artwalk on Thursday, June 16, highlights the Coast Salish tradition of carving, and emphasizes the ways in which contemporary Native American artists from the region continue this vital art form.

Visitors will have an opportunity to see Coast Salish art in the making throughout the duration of the exhibition. Local artists will create works of art in the gallery using various Coast Salish art-making techniques, such as carving, basket-making, and print-making, highlighting the broad range of artistic expression and technical mastery of Coast Salish artists.

Carving a Legacy celebrates the diversity and vibrancy of contemporary art made by the indigenous people of Puget Sound. Curator Rock Hushka notes that the exhibition also “seeks to show how Native American art continues to evolve and change as present-day artists both embrace and push the boundaries of tradition.”

The exhibition is primarily focused on the Coast Salish technique of carving, but also features glass sculptures, prints, weaving, and baskets which illustrate the breadth of Native American art. Among the artists represented are Tacoma resident and Puyallup Tribal Nation member Shaun Peterson, and master carver Greg Colfax, of the Makah Tribal Nation. Other artists include Marvin Oliver, Bruce Miller, Chris Paul, and Karen Reed.