The FloGris Museum in Old Lyme is hosting “Native Prospects: Indigeneity and Landscape” from Nov. 16 through Feb. 9.

The exhibition was curated by Scott Manning Stevens, PhD/Karoniaktatsie (Akwesasne Mohawk), and was organized by the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill, NY, with loans from public and private collections.

“Native Prospects” juxtaposes an Indigenous approach to the articulation of land in art with the Romantic landscape paintings of Thomas Cole. The exhibition presents 19th-century paintings by Thomas Cole featuring Native figures, in context with Indigenous works of historic and cultural resonance, and artworks by contemporary Indigenous artists: Teresa Baker (Mandan/Hidatsa), Brandon Lazore (Onondaga, Snipe Clan), Truman T. Lowe (Ho-Chunk), Alan Michelson (Mohawk member of the Six Nations of the Grand River) and Kay WalkingStick (Cherokee). This cross-cultural exhibition offers profound interpretations of American art and land, expands conventional definitions of “land” and “landscape,” and highlights Indigenous artistic creation.

The Indigenous approach to land underscores a mutual relationship of nurturing and caretaking. As Dr. Stevens writes, “For many Indigenous peoples, including the Haudenosaunee, it is our relationship with the land that is of paramount importance. That relationship teaches us the ethics on which our societies are built.” He continues, “Any abstract portrayal of the land and its features in our visual culture is meant to call to mind those relationships — relationships that we have a sacred duty to remember and maintain.”

The approach to nature exemplified by Cole’s one-point perspective landscape paintings is rooted in a European tradition that reflects a perceived right to dominate and rule over nature.

The companion exhibition, “naqutiwowok/continuance: Connecticut’s Tribal Communities Create,” emerged from the FloGris Museum’s interest in elaborating on “Native Prospects” with the perspectives and voices of Connecticut’s Indigenous people.

The collaboration has been led by people from the state’s five recognized tribes (Schaghticoke, Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan, and Golden Hill Paugussett), who decided to curate the exhibition from work submitted by members of the tribes. The planners sought contributions to the exhibition that express thoughts about Indigeneity and landscape from the viewpoint of this region’s people.

The exhibition takes place during the fall and winter seasons, times of year that carry specific cultural and spiritual resonances. The organizers encouraged participants to consider and reflect concepts such as gathering, resiliency, connecting, relating, walking (land), paddling (water), repairing, continuation, sustaining, warming, and changing. The art, contributed by adults and youth, represents an array of media under the theme of continuity through time.

The exhibitions are accompanied by public programs exploring storytelling, food, language, and the environment, among other topics. Learn more at FloGris.org.

The museum at 96 Lyme St. is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun. Admission is $15 for adults, $14 for ages 62 and up, $13 for ages 13 and up; for ages 5-12, and free for kids 4 and under.