The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Historic Artists' Homes and Studios (HAHS) Program is proud to highlight the creativity and innovation of Native women artists. Through four historic sites, visitors encounter immersive and collaborative interpretation that repositions Indigenous artists where they have always belonged—at the center of art history.

Jacobson House Native Art Center (Norman, Oklahoma)

According to Jacobson House emeritus board member and former site director Tracey Satepauhoodle-Mikkanen, "Lois Smoky broke that traditional gender role through each stroke of her paintbrush." Smoky later married and had children, choosing to channel her creative energies into beadwork.

As stewards of the Kiowa artists' legacies, the Jacobson House restored Smoky to her place in art history alongside her peers. According to Satepauhoodle-Mikkanen, "The shift from the 'Kiowa Five' to the 'Kiowa Six' was driven by a re-evaluation of historical records and the desire, in collaboration with the Kiowa community, to give Lois Smoky equal and deserved recognition for her foundational role in the collective." The change required building consensus between the Kiowa Museum Board, community elders and Tribal leaders, and the artists' descendants.

The Jacobson House promotes past and present Indigenous artists’ creativity, preserving the story of the Kiowa Six while also celebrating contemporary Native artists. Women artists continue to be vital to that mission. Pawnee filmmaker Randi LeClair partnered with the center to produce her forthcoming film The Circle of Chawce, and Kiowa beadworker Tahnee Ahtoneharjo won the top award at its 2025 biennial art show.

Lelooska Foundation and Cultural Center (Ariel, Washington)

The Lelooska Foundation and Cultural Center commemorates a family of artists and their communities. It was founded by Chief Lelooska, a woodcarver, storyteller and culture bearer.

Lelooska's mother, Shona-Hah ("Gray Dove") was an artist in her own right, well-versed in beadwork, sewing, painting, and carving. She was born in a black walnut log cabin on the Missouri and Oklahoma state line, spent her early years as a trick rider in rodeos, and eventually found her way to the Pacific Northwest.

Becoming part of the Sewide lineage of the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), she was given the name Tl'alihilugwa ("Whale Rising"). Her art shows the influence of many Native traditions, reflecting a cultural hybridity celebrated by the Foundation today. Shona-Hah is best remembered for her dolls, with intricately carved faces, hands, and feet, and with hand sewn clothes and regalia.

Shona-Hah was part of the foundation's educational programs from the 1960s forward. Now, almost thirty years after her death, the center is still going strong, educating the public about the diversity of Indigenous heritage across North America.

Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House (Ukiah, California)

The Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House (GHM) holds an extensive repository of Hudson's paintings, many of which depict her Pomo neighbors. As a professional artist, Hudson found an enthusiastic audience for her portraits of Native people. Hudson and her husband John, himself an amateur ethnologist, were both deeply interested in Indigenous cultures. They accumulated an extensive collection of basketry that reflects Pomo women's artistry.

Joseppa Dick, known as “the queen of the weavers among the Pomo of Mendocino,” experimented with traditional Pomo weaving styles, creating remarkably intricate patterned baskets. Annie Burke’s baskets were, upon her request, preserved rather than destroyed (as was traditional) after her death. Burke hoped future generations of Pomo weavers could learn from her work. GHM’s collections are still used by Pomo weavers today.

In 2022, GHM deepened its relationship with contemporary Pomo artists by organizing Gathering Time: Pomo Art During the Pandemic, exclusively dedicating exhibit space to displaying contemporary Pomo art. Gathering Time was guest-curated by Meyokeeskow Marrufo (Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians) and showcased artwork by fifteen artists. GHM's director, David Burton, described the exhibit as a "huge hit" that connected Pomo audiences with the museum, many for the first time. Meyokeeskow's curatorial work is again on display in GHM's current exhibition "Momím Wené: Medicine Water."

The museum is now looking ahead to 2027: the tenth anniversary of its Wild Gardens' opening, featuring plants that thrive in Ukiah's unique ecosystem. Pomo peoples have stewarded the land for thousands of years and continue to care for plants that provide medicine, food, and raw materials for basketry. Four of the five people on the anniversary exhibition’s advisory committee are Pomo.

Abiquiú Home & Studio, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum (Abiquiú, New Mexico)

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe currently hosts a temporary exhibition called Tewa Nangeh/Tewa Country, featuring multimedia art by Tewa creatives. Contributing artists visited O’Keeffe’s home and studio to prepare for the event.

Exhibit co-curator Bess Murphy described her and co-curator Jason Garcia's motivation for mounting the show: "It felt like it was time to bring a Tewa perspective into the museum galleries, not just as a response to O'Keeffe, but as a way of expanding the histories that we share about this place." After two years of development, the exhibit opened in November 2025 and will be open until November 2026.