Dr. Jill Ahlberg Yohe, Minneapolis Institute of Art

Jill oversees the museum’s collection of Native American art. She arrived at Mia in 2014, having previously served as assistant curator and Mellon Fellow of Native American Art at the St. Louis Art Museum. There, she installed the museum’s first three permanent galleries of Native American art and collaborated with Lakota artist Arthur Amiotte and Crow artist Wendy Red Star to bring Native understandings to works from their respective communities. She grew up in rural Pennsylvania, received her BA from the University of Maryland, and studied anthropology for her MA at the University of New Mexico. For her PhD (2008), also from the University of New Mexico, she focused on Navajo textiles, learning the Navajo language and living on the vast Navajo reservation for 4.5 years. Among her initiatives at Mia is showcasing native Minnesota artists, highlighting the art of native women, and bringing native perspectives to bear on the museum’s collection.