John is the Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Native Arts at the DAM where he conducts and presents scholarly research, develops exhibitions, collects Native arts, and disseminates knowledge of the DAM’s Indigenous arts of North America, African, and Oceanic collections. He was the organizing curator for the recent exhibitions "Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer" (2018), "Super Indian: Fritz Scholder, 1967-1980" (2015), and "Revolt 1680/2180: Virgil Ortiz" (2015), as well as lead curator for "Eyes On: Julie Buffalohead" and "Stampede: Animals in Art." Dr. Lukavic received his Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma (2012) and his MA in Museum Science from Texas Tech University (2001). In 2018, he was selected for the Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University’s NextGen program for emerging top talent in the museum field. In 2019 he received an Award for Excellence from the Association of Art Museum Curators for his essay in the "Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer" exhibition catalogue. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Native American Art Studies Association, as well as for the Denver Indian Center, Inc.