Courtney M. Leonard (born 1980) is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, and activist from the

Shinnecock Nation The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe of historically Algonquian-speaking Native Americans based at the eastern end of Long Island, New York. This tribe is headquartered in Suffolk County, on the southeastern shore. Sin ...

in Long Island, New York. Her work revolves around issues of ecology and Native identity, specifically their intersection with water, which is essential to the Shinnecock. Leonard primarily uses clay and her ceramic artwork has been inspired by the whaling coastal culture of the Shinnecock Nation. She has contributed to the Offshore Art Movement and now focuses on her work, ''BREACH'', which is centered on environmental sustainability.

Biography

Courtney Leonard was born in 1980 in Long Island, New York. She is a member of the Shinnecock Nation, an indigenous community with historical connections to water, fishing, and whaling. Leonard's early life and her identity was heavily influenced by the coastal way of life of the Shinnecock community. In 2014, Leonard began ''BREACH'', a mixed media project that delves into the multiple definitions of the word, as well as, how it pertains to her life as a member of the Shinnecock Nation. With her work, she confronts audiences with the question, "Can a culture sustain itself when it no longer has access to the environment that fashioned its culture?" In 2024 her work featured in an exhibition titled ''The New Transcendence'' at the Friedman Benda Gallery in New York (a group show curated by Glenn Adamson also featuring works by

Ini Archibong Inimfon “Ini” Joshua Archibong (born 23 June 1983) is an industrial designer, creative director, artist and musician who is active in product design, furniture design, environmental design, architecture, watch design, and fashion. He has said ...

, Andrea Branzi, Stephen Burks, Najla El Zein, and

Samuel Ross Samuel Ross (born 1991) is a British product and fashion designer, creative director and artist. He is known for founding the fashion label A-COLD-WALL* and working with brands such as Apple, Hublot, Off-White, Oakley, Nike, and Barney's. Ear ...

). Leonard currently resides in Northfield, MN.

Education

Courtney M. Leonard attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her associate's degree in art and museum studies in 2000. Two years later, she received her bachelor's degree from Alfred University's NY College of Ceramics. Leonard received her Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008.

Artworks

Leonard has been working with clay since she was a little girl but her first experience understanding the connection between herself and working with clay was in high school. From then on, she began using her artwork with ceramics to focus on the issues that the Shinnecock community faces with the ocean environment and sustainability. ''Artifice'', 2016. Micaceous clay with glaze. This sculpture is a hollow medium sized oval that has holes perforating its entire surface. The artwork is meant to resemble man-made artificial reef structures. ''BREACH #2,'' 2016. Glazed ceramics on Pallet. This artwork showcases various whale teeth made from clay, piled on a wooden pallet. ''SEWA SIS'', 2017. Mixed Media Acrylic on Canvas, 48" x 36" x 2". This painting is a portrait of a young woman of the Shinnecock nation. She is dressed in traditional Shinnecock clothes with ivory jewelry.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Source:Leonard Artist Resume - https://img-cache.oppcdn.com/fixed/3861/assets/FkWrqlXh7WS7I3se.pdf * 2014 BREACH: LOG 2014, MoCNA, Santa Fe, NMLEVEL/LAND, Lloyd Kiva New Gallery, Santa Fe, NM * 2015 BREACH: LOG 2015, Stephens Art Gallery, University of the Ozarks, Santa Fe, NM * 2016 BREACH: LOG 2016, ASU Art Museum: Ceramic Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ * 2017 BREACH: LOG 2017, Santa Fe Art Institute: Water Rights Residency, Santa Fe, NM * 2018 BREACH: LOG 2018 - “EUPHOTIC”, Tansey Contemporary, Denver, CO

Group exhibitions

Sources: * 2011: Counting Coup, Invitational, Curator: Ryan Rice, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM * 2014: “50 from 6”: Contemporary Ceramic Art From 6 Rocky Mountain States, Braithwaite Fine Arts Gallery, Utah Toi Ngapuhi, International Invitational Exhibition, Northland College, Ngapuhi, New Zealand Changing Hands: 3, Invitational, Curator: Ellen Taubman, Dave McFadden, Museum of Arts & Design, NY, NY 50/50: Fifty Artists, Fifty Years, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), Santa Fe, NM * 2015: Art In Embassies Program: Limited Edition Prints, Invitational, IAIA & U.S. Embassies, USA/International Imago Mundi: Luciano Benetton Collection, Invitational, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Courtney M. Leonard & Frank Buffalo Hyde, Collaborative Exhibition, Modern West Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT RISD: Radical Investigations of Systems and (Dis)connections, Invitational, RISD Memorial Hall, Providence, RI * 2016: Radical Seafaring, Invitational, Curator: Andrea Grover, Parish Art Museum, Southampton, NYThe Path We Share, Invitational, Curator: David Diviney, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia * 2017: Without A Theme, Invitational, Pequot Museum, Mashantuckett, CT People of Color People of Clay, Invitational, Curator: Leslie King Hammond, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MDWe The People: Serving Notice, Invitational, American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA * 2018: Trees Also Speak, Invitational, Curator: Catherine Bernard, State University of New York (SUNY), Westbury, NYTHEY, Invitational, Curator: Roberto Lugo, The Clay Art Center, Port Chester, NY Small Favors, Invitational, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA (in) Visible, Invitational, Curator: Amanda Barr, NCECA 2018 Concurrent Exhibition, Braddock Carnegie Library, PA * 2024: ''The New Transcendence'' at the Friedman Benda Gallery in New York, NY

Collections

Permanent collections

Source:Leonard Artist Resume - https://img-cache.oppcdn.com/fixed/3861/assets/FkWrqlXh7WS7I3se.pdf *

American Museum of Ceramic Art The American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) is an art museum for ceramic art, located in Pomona, California. Founded in 2003 as a nonprofit organization, the museum exhibits historic and contemporary ceramic artwork from both its permanent collect ...

, Pomona, CA *

Autry Museum The Autry Museum of the American West is a museum in Los Angeles, California, dedicated to exploring an inclusive history of the American West. Founded in 1988, the museum presents a wide range of exhibitions and public programs, including le ...

, Los Angeles, California * Art In Embassies, U.S. Embassies, USA/International *

ASU Art Museum The Arizona State University Art Museum is an art museum operated by Arizona State University, located on its main campus in Tempe, Arizona. The Art Museum has some 12,000 objects in its permanent collection and describes its primary focuses as co ...

Ceramic Research Center, Tempe, Arizona *

Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...

, Sacramento, California * Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado * Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma *

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

, Phoenix, Arizona *

Institute of American Indian Arts Museum The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

, Santa Fe, New Mexico * Museum of the North, Fairbanks, Alaska Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut *

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic ...

, Santa Fe, New Mexico *

Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center is a museum of Native American culture in Mashantucket, Connecticut, owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. Overview The Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, l ...

, Mashantucket Connecticut * Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas Newark Museum, Newark, NJ * New York State Museum, Albany, New York * Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom *

Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem, Massachusetts, US, is a successor to the East India Marine Society, established in 1799. It combines the collections of the former Peabody Museum of Salem (which acquired the Society's collection) and the ...

, Salem, Massachusetts *

Pomona College Museum of Art The Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, known colloquially as the Benton, is an art museum at Pomona College in Claremont, California. It was completed in 2020, replacing the Montgomery Art Gallery which had been home to the Pomona College ...

, Pomona, California * University Galleries, University of Reno, Reno, Nevada * Shinnecock Nation Cultural Center & Museum, Southampton, New York *

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

, New York, New York

Publications

Source: * Leonard, Courtney, “On BREACH: Logbook 20 , NEBULOUS”, Form and Relation: Contemporary Native Ceramics, University of Washington Press, May 2020 * Leonard, Courtney, “The Art of Otherness”, 2018 NCECA Journal, pp 88-89 * Leonard, Courtney, “Without A Map: Staying In Clay (The Strategist)”, 2018 * Burnet, Carand: “Curating New Conclusions”, Art In New England, July/August, 2017, Meer, Althea: “Makers + Mentors: Hands-on with Leaders of Native Fashion.” Blog. The National Museum of the American Indian. NMAI, June 16, 2016. Web. 3. December. 2017. * Quimby, Ella Marie: “Visiting Artist Explores Arctic Connections”, UAF Sun Star, November 22, 2016 * Meier, Allison: “Navigating the Recent Wave of Renegade Seafaring Art”, Hyperallergic, July 1, 2016 * Levere, Jane L.: “Review: Exhibition at Parish Museum Celebrates Rule Breaking”, June 24, 2016 * Young, Beth: “When Artists Take To The Sea, All The World’s A Canvas”, East End Beacon, May 29, 2016 * Trimble, Lynn: “BREACH LOG 16”, Phoenix New Times, June, 2016 * Montgomery, Katrina: “Poetic and Political”, ASU Now, April 8, 2016 * ICMN Staff, “IAIA Alumni Produce Prints for US Embassies Around The World”, Indian Country Today, December 11, 2015 * Abatemarco, Michael: “Art In Review: Courtney M. Leonard at MoCNA”, Pasatiempo, October 24, 2014 * Roberts, Kathaleen: “Exploring Intersections: Courtney Leonard Produces a Dialogue Between Artist and Viewer”, ABQ Journal, November 29, 2013

Awards

Leonard has received many awards, and residencies from institutions such as, The Andy Warhol Foundation, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, The Rasumon Foundation, The United States Art In Embassies Program. She was awarded the 2018 National Artist Fellowship from The Native Arts and Culture Foundation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Courtney Living people 1980 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Shinnecock people Artists from New York (state) Filmmakers from New York (state) 21st-century American women artists 21st-century American artists Native American people from New York (state) Native American women artists Rhode Island School of Design alumni