Welcoming Recipients of the Indigenous Practice Studio (IPS) Commissioning Program

The Queens Museum is thrilled to announce that Shane Weeks and Mazorca Colectiva have been selected to realize two projects as part of the Indigenous Practice Studio (IPS) Commissioning Program. The artists and knowledge holders receive financial and production support towards the creation of a new project that explores themes of environmental justice and stewardship, as well as models of community building and sustaining cultural traditions. The program also provides free studio space and mentorship sessions with cultural advocate and curator Eva Mayhabal Davis. Commissions may include artworks, exhibitions, interventions, or programming that will launch this coming Fall 2025. 

This program is part of the Indigenous Practice Studio (IPS), an ongoing initiative that has been in development since 2022 in partnership with artist and cultural consultant Tecumseh Ceaser. IPS consists of long-term research, continued learning, programming, consultation and relationship building with local Native and diasporic Indigenous communities. The Queens Museum acknowledges its occupancy of unceded Indigenous lands and builds towards restorative and non-extractive ways of working with Indigenous artists and communities. IPS reflects the Queens Museum’s ongoing commitment to self-interrogation and recognizes its work as unfinished, with this effort as a starting point.

The IPS Commissioning Program is organized in partnership with consultants Tecumseh Ceaser and Eva Mayhabal Davis together with Queens Museum staff members.

Shane Weeks is a proud member of the Shinnecock Nation, located in Southampton, New York. Shane’s traditional upbringing encouraged him to follow in his elders’ footsteps by making the world better for future generations. He grew up understanding the importance of his culture and connection to the natural world, representing the traditions passed down to him by song, dance and drum, as well as learning to hunt and fish at a young age. Deeply devoted to his community, Shane represents his people in a number of capacities, as an author, traditional singer and dancer, cultural consultant, artist, and member of several local boards and committees. He is the owner of Ohke Creations, a candle and jewelry business and he also serves as Co-Founder and Director of Research and Education at the Metoac Indigenous Collective, an intertribal organization focused on cultural preservation. Shane is a recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award granted to him in 2023. As an artist, Shane works in many different mediums. He has participated in residencies with a number of artists and often works with indigenous communities from around the world. Overall, Shane’s mission is to bridge the gap between the Shinnecock community, the local East End, and communities abroad. Shane lives and works between the Shinnecock Nation in Southampton, New York and Astoria, Queens.

Mazorca Colectiva is a community of immigrants, Indigenous Peoples, and individuals from the Global South focused on reclaiming ancestral memory and practices. Central to their work is nurturing the cycle of life through the involvement of mothers and caretakers, who form the backbone of the community. They emphasize the importance of staying rooted in ancestral traditions to guide future generations toward sustainable and balanced ways of living, free from colonial and capitalist pressures. Their educational approach values diverse knowledge systems and aims to foster connections with the land and cycles of life. Based in East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, Queens, the organization has eight core working group members and a larger community of neighbors that work closely with the collective. Mazorca Colectiva began in an East Elmhurst school community garden, located in a neighborhood with a rich heritage of Black history and long-time homeownership that faces disproportionate rates of food and housing insecurity; exposure to the effects of climate change due to its proximity to LaGuardia airport; as well as a lack of access to justice in the form of cultural centers, artistic initiatives, and community spaces. Mazorca Colectiva has been operating a Peace Garden there which serves multiple purposes: teaching local children about ecological cycles, hosting ceremonies, meetings, cultural exchanges, and art workshops as a hub for community organizing. They aim to bring together elders and newly arrived or first-generation children to become land stewards by healing and recovering the ancestral technologies that have been thought of as long forgotten.

Tecumseh Ceaser is a Indigenous artist, cultural consultant and wampum carver. He is of Matinecock Turkey clan, Montaukett, and Unkechaug descent. Born and raised in Queens, NY, the homeland of the Matinecock, he works in the traditional medium and practice of wampum (quahog shell) carving. He frequently collaborates with organizations to bring cultural programming to local tribes and their communities. He currently serves as the Director of Education and Strategic Planning at Metoac Indigenous Collective and also serves as an advisor for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus at the United Nations, where he advocates for Indigenous Americans’ rights to member states, NGOs, and other indigenous nations. A big part of his current community work has been working on cultural revitalization, preservation, and Long Island Natives’ traditional knowledge empowerment. He pulls from both the traditional knowledge of Native elders as well as his experience doing advocacy work. He is currently in residence at Flushing Town Hall and the Queens Museum. Tecumseh is based in New York City. To learn more about Tecumseh, visit his website.

Eva Mayhabal Davis (b. Toluca, Mexico) is a cultural advocate and curator, collaborating with artists and creatives to produce exhibitions, texts, and events and implementing community-responsive programming through mindful partnerships. She is a co-director at Transmitter, a collaborative curatorial initiative in Brooklyn, NY. In 2021, she was the co-curator of ‘Bronx Calling: The Bronx 5th Biennial’ at The Bronx Museum of Arts. Her writing has been featured in exhibition catalogs and various art publications. Her work in advocacy and equity is rooted in Indigenous and diasporic dialogues. She’s been a fellow of the Art & Law Program (2018), the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Leadership Advocacy (2019), New York Foundation of the Arts Leadership Boot Camp (2019), and the Artistic Freedom Initiative Art & Cultural Heritage Law Certificate Program (2020). She is a founding member of El Salón, a creative meetup based on a soulful potluck. She is a guest working from the occupied territory of Lenapehoking (New York City).