Events

Join MMA in the galleries for an inspiring afternoon with Curator of Photography and Visual Culture at Oakland Museum of California, Drew Heath Johnson, and special guest Dustin Aguilar as they share their insights into Born of the Bear Dance: Dugan Aguilar's Photographs of Native California.

Advance purchase is required. Seating is limited, so we recommend reserving your tickets early.

$5 MMA Members, Students, Military, Under 18, and SNAP Participants with EBT

$20 General Admission. Includes an admission pass to MMA - Pacific Street.

About the Curator

Drew Heath Johnson is Curator of Photography & Visual Culture at the Oakland Museum of California, where he has worked with the Museum's unparalleled collection of California photography for more than thirty years. His many exhibitions include Capturing Light: Masterpieces of California Photography, 1850–2000, Fertile Ground: Art and Community in California, and Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing, which traveled to venues in Europe and the United States. A native Californian, he has been a student of photography since purchasing his first daguerreotype at the age of fourteen. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with Native community members who are related to Dugan and those who knew him for decades: Dustin Aguilar, Maidu, Pit River, Paiute; Jennifer Bates, Northern Sierra Mewuk; Theresa Harlan, Kewa Pueblo and Jemez Pueblo; Chag Lowry, Yurok, Maidu, and Achumawi; Rico Miranda, Rumsen Ohlone.

Dugan Aguilar (1949–2018), Helen Coats at the Yosemite Valley Bedrock Mortar Where She Pounded Sourberries and Her Grandmother Pounded Acorns, 2005, gelatin silver print, 7.5 x 10.75 in. Courtesy of Oakland Museum of California. Gift of the family of Dugan Aguilar. 2021.7.1002.