Boundless K-12 Curriculum: PLACE

COURTNEY M. LEONARD

A painting by Courtney M. Leonard of the remains of a humpback whale and a red poppy flower.

Courtney M. Leonard (Shinnecock, American, born 1980)

Collider Study #1, from BREACH: Logbook 21, 2021
Mixed-media, clay, acrylic on canvas
Museum purchase with Wise Fund for Fine Arts 2022.22

ABOUT THE MAKER

Courtney M. Leonard is a Shinnecock artist and filmmaker from Long Island, New York. Her work in clay and canvas often focuses on the importance of whales and traditional whaling culture in her community. The environment is also central to her work as an artist.

What strengthens my work and develops visual questions is the connection of being from an indigenous culture, whose history lies strongly in the sustenance and ceremony of the whale, but whose current cultural practice does not practice whaling

— Courtney M. Leonard

Additional Resources

VISIT Courtney M. Leonard’s WEBSITE
PBS REELNative Video: Courtney M. Leonard

Learn about other objects in PLACE:

necklace made from cord and seashells

What connects people to a place?

A digital print by Justin Beatty of a larger than life indigenous person on the Umass Amherst campus.

How do cultural groups establish presence in a specific place?

A painting by Courtney M. Leonard of the remains of a humpback whale and a red poppy flower.

What does it mean for a culture when access to homelands change?

A photograph by Jeremy Dennis of trees in an eastern forest.

Why is preserving knowledge of a place valuable?

overlapping concentric circles made by ripples in water.

Boundless K-12 Curriculum

* YouTube links to audiovisual materials shared by other creators are included in the curriculum. For more information, including for captioning and transcripts of the suggested audiovisual materials, please contact the audio/video content creators.