Expert Series: “Beneath the Surface”

Join photographers Will Wilson (Citizen of the Navajo Nation), Cara Romaro (Chemehuevi), and Dakota Mace (Diné), featured artists in Beneath the Surface: Mining and American Photography , as they discuss how photographers bring visibility to the often-hidden worlds of mining, drilling, and fracking. Facilitated by photographer and member of MAM’s Native Initiatives Advisory Group, Jami Balicki (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin / Mohawk), this artist-led conversation brings together an intergenerational group of artists for an unscripted conversation on aesthetics, activism, and artistic practice—examining how photography reveals the industries shaping our landscapes, communities, and everyday lives. The Expert Series welcomes renowned artists, scholars, and cultural activators to the Museum for expansive dialogues that dive deeper into an exhibition, artist, or theme. Meet the experts Cara Romero Cara (Chemehuevi Indian Tribe) is a fine art photographer whose work blends documentary and commercial aesthetics to create stories drawn from intertribal knowledge. Her images explore the intersections of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and futurity. Romero has presented solo exhibitions across the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany, with recent group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her public art projects include #TONGVALAND in Los Angeles, Restoration: Now or Never in London, and Desert X in the Coachella Valley. Her photographs are held in major collections, including the Denver Art Museum, MoMA, LACMA, and The Met. Raised between California’s Mojave Desert and Houston, Romero is based in Santa Fe. Dakota Mace Dakota (Diné) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work translates Diné history and beliefs through alternative photography techniques, weaving, beadwork, and papermaking. Her practice draws on her heritage to explore family lineage, community, and identity while expanding…