The Ford Foundation has committed $1.1 million to serve as a presenting sponsor for Indigenous artist Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition for the U.S. Pavilion at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

Gibson’s exhibition marks the first solo exhibition for an Indigenous artist representing the U.S. at the Biennale Arte in Venice, Italy. Titled the space in which to place me, Gibson’s exhibition combines American, Indigenous, and queer histories with influences from music and pop culture and will include a series of new and recent works, including sculpture, paintings on paper, video, and multimedia paintings, as well as text incorporating language from foundational American documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibition will be presented by Portland Art Museum and SITE Santa Fe—the commissioning institutions of the U.S. Pavilion—in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

“For years, the Ford Foundation’s history of support for the arts and the U.S. Pavilion has sought to expand our shared understanding of what is considered American art,” said Ford Foundation president Darren Walker. “Jeffrey Gibson’s powerful work in this year’s Biennale—and the connections he makes between Indigenous peoples across the globe as well as in the United States—is a beacon of hope that we are finally broadening the definitions of American art.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Kate Cooper)