LEAP in Action

Dr. Erica Nuckles, Director of Learning, Engagement and Partnerships (LEAP), has been traveling near and far in preparation for the exhibition Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art 1945–1975. In the process, she has also found inspiration for the development of a new interpretive plan for the permanent collection and the creation of new resources for teachers on the Museum’s Learning Management System. Locally, she rekindled the partnership between The Westmoreland and the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center in Pittsburgh that began with programming for the 2019 exhibition Mingled Visions: The Photographs of Edward S. Curtis and Will Wilson

Nuckles also connected with Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village and Fort Pitt Museum, leaders in the region for their work with current members of federally recognized tribes who historically occupied and used the lands of the Ohio River Valley. In August 2022 she toured Meadowcroft with members of the LEAP Team and Chief Curator Jeremiah William McCarthy. In November 2022, Nuckles attended a day-long seminar at Fort Pitt Museum, “From Seneca to Seneca-Cayuga: Iroquoian Peoples of the Ohio Country,” with presenters from the Seneca and Seneca-Cayuga Nations in New York and Oklahoma, respectively.

In December 2022, Nuckles, along with Curatorial Fellow Danny Volk, visited the Seneca Iroquois National Museum on the Allegany Reservation in Cattaraugus County, New York, and attended the sixth annual juried Hodinöhsö:ni’ Art Show and Indigenous Winter Arts Market at Ganondagan Seneca Art & Culture Center in Victor, New York. In January 2023, Nuckles traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, to visit the Heard Museum and met with their Director of Learning and Public Engagement, Jeff Goodman.

Nuckles finds these enrichment trips to be essential to her work at The Westmoreland: “Having the opportunity to visit other institutions expands not only the Museum’s network, but also opens my heart and mind to new ideas, perspectives, and possibilities, a core component of our mission as an institution, so that I can create innovative opportunities for our visitors to do the same.” top to bottom Nuckles catches up on her reading as she prepares for the next leg of her cross-country journey. Education Program Manager, Amanda Denham, takes footage at Meadowcroft Rockshelter for the WMAA Learning Management System. Curatorial Fellow, Danny Volk, views an art exhibition at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.