On June 12, the Walker Art Center will welcome award-winning filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs) to deliver the latest installment of the Mack Lecture series. Since its inception, the series has provided a platform for changemakers at the forefront of their fields to share new ideas and alternate ways of working. This June, Harjo will speak about his experience instigating radical change in the film and TV industry by foregrounding the lives of Indigenous people at all stages of film production.
Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) is the co-creator (with Taika Waititi) and showrunner of Reservation Dogs (FX Productions). The comedy-drama series follows four Indigenous teenage friends living in a small town in the Muscogee Nation, filmed in Oklahoma. After its first season, Reservation Dogs won a 2022 Peabody Award, 2022 Television Academy Honors Award, and 2022 Independent Spirit Award for Best Comedy Series, and has continued to gain recognition through the end of the series in 2023.
On Saturday, June 8, the Walker will host a free Reservation Dogs watch party, screening the first five episodes of the acclaimed series in the Cinema. On Wednesday, June 12, at 7 pm, Harjo will deliver his Mack Lecture followed by a moderated conversation.
“Having re-envisioned the Mack Lectures for our contemporary moment and audiences, we’re thrilled to invite Sterlin Harjo to the Walker,” said Amanda Hunt, Head of Public Engagement, Learning, and Impact. “Sterlin represents everything we want to celebrate with the series, from his dedicated innovation to his uncompromising vision.”
Throughout the program’s history, the Mack Lectures have presented discussions that examine the critical issues of our time by leaders in arts and culture whose ideas inform our world. Previous Mack Lecturers include musician Brian Eno, writer and academic Claudia Rankine, and visual artist Mark Bradford.
“Sterlin Harjo’s important body of work, from Reservation Dogs to his local connection in the comedy troupe the 1491s, has cemented him as one of the most exciting storytellers of our time,” said Pablo de Ocampo, the Walker’s Director and Curator of Moving Image. “Sterlin has literally changed the way TV gets made, not simply through making visible Indigenous stories, but by cultivating and supporting a larger ecosystem of Indigenous directors, writers, actors, and other film talent.”
When Reservation Dogs premiered in August 2021, Harjo already had an award-winning roster of short and feature-length film projects. His first feature, Four Sheets to the Wind, screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007 and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. His recent documentary feature, Love and Fury, chronicles the lives and work of more than a dozen contemporary Native American artists over the course of year. The film was acquired by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY and released on Netflix in December 2021.
Harjo is a founding member of the 1491s, a Native sketch comedy troupe with members across Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Montana. After posting video skits on YouTube, the group’s work grew to include sketches, spoken word, and longer narrative works depicting contemporary Indigenous life in the United States through comedy and satire. Harjo co-wrote the group’s play Between Two Knees, an intergenerational comedic love story and musical set against the backdrop of true events in Indigenous history, commissioned in 2018/2019 by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Twin Cities–based New Native Theater. The Mack Lecture represents Harjo’s return to the Walker, where he introduced a screening of Four Sheets to the Wind in 2008. Additional programming information follows.
PROGRAMMING
Watch Party: Reservation Dogs, Episodes 1–5
Saturday, June 8, 1 pm
Free
Walker Cinema
Watch the first five episodes of Reservation Dogs in the Cinema for free on Saturday, June 8, starting at 1 pm. Tickets available one hour before the screening from the front desk.
Mack Lecture: Sterlin Harjo
Wednesday, June 12, 7 pm
$25 ($20 Walker members)
Walker Cinema
Award-winning filmmaker Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs) comes to the Walker for a night of provocative ideas, anchored in his radical film production practices. A pop-up bar will be open in the lobby starting one hour before the lecture.
ACCESSIBILITY
This Mack Lecture will have ASL interpretation. For information about accessibility or to request additional accommodations for this program, call 612.375.7564 or email access@walkerart.org.
For more information about accessibility at the Walker, visit our Access page.
ABOUT THE WALKER ART CENTER
The Walker Art Center is a renowned multidisciplinary arts institution that presents, collects, and supports the creation of groundbreaking work across the visual and performing arts, moving image, and design. Guided by the belief that art has the power to bring joy and solace and the ability to unite people through dialogue and shared experiences, the Walker engages communities through a dynamic array of exhibitions, performances, events, and initiatives. Its multi-acre campus includes 65,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, the state-of-the-art McGuire Theater and Walker Cinema, and ample green space that connects with the adjoining Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Garden, a partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, is one of the first urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States and home to the beloved Twin Cities landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Recognized for its ambitious program and growing collection of more than 15,500 works, the Walker embraces emerging art forms and amplifies the work of artists from the Twin Cities and from across the country and the globe. Its broad spectrum of offerings makes it a lively and welcoming hub for artistic expression, creative innovation, and community connection.
Visit walkerart.org for more information about upcoming presentations, programs, and opportunities to experience the art of our time.
The Mack Lecture series is made possible by generous support from Aaron and Carol Mack.