Mariah Ribeiro

Mariah Ribeiro is a Ph.D. student in Art History at the University of Washington. She previously received her M.A. and B.A. in Art History at Syracuse University and Seattle University, respectively. At UW, she is researching Modern and Contemporary Native and Indigenous art in preparation for a career in museum curation.

Mariah’s research explores how art is often a vehicle for contesting colonial power and expressing Indigenous sovereignty. She focuses on the construction and deconstruction of site and land, exploring how art can evoke an experience of space that complicates our understanding of history, memory, and the national imaginary. She is studying Nuu-chah-nulth to deepen her understanding of the relationship between language, land, and Native ways of being, as well as to align her scholarship closer to the needs of local Native communities.