The Delaware Art Museum’s Indigenous arts programming includes exhibitions, powwows and fashion events; its second annual Indigenous/Native Fashion Art Show, “Living in the Present,” is set for Nov. 6 in Wilmington. The program will bring together artists whose work draws on Indigenous histories and cultures, including one designer’s runway portrayal of the Aztec feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl.
The Nov. 6 event will open with a drumming ceremony led by the Red Blanket Singers and hosted by Chief Urie of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribe, according to WHYY. Attendees can explore Indigenous fashion and artwork and enjoy food from local vendors throughout the evening, the station reports.
Iz Balleto, cultural programs manager at the Delaware Art Museum, described the show as a story of Indigenous nations across the Americas honoring the past while living in the present. Balleto said Indigenous people across South, Central and North America are relatives and family, framing the event as a bridge among those communities rather than a showcase of one region.
A Multidisciplinary Artist Returns to Her Roots
Multidisciplinary artist Adaysela Reyes, who also works under the artistic name Dayesla Ixtli, draws on her Matlatzinca and Mexican-Nahuatl roots for her presentation. Reyes is from Tenancingo, a small city in the south-central State of Mexico that she has described as rich in pre-Hispanic culture. Ixtli was born there and moved to Delaware with her mother at age 7, according to Spotlight Delaware.
Reyes plans a theatrical presentation of pre-Hispanic Nahuatl cultures from her home region rather than a conventional runway walk, according to the same account. Her lineup includes Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, and female deities. Spotlight Delaware reports that Ixtli is scheduled to co-headline the Nov. 6 show from 6 to 9 p.m.; general admission is $40 for Delaware Art Museum members and $50 for non-members.
Quillwork and Weaving Meet Modern Design
Fashion designer Kehala Smith, a member of the Turtle Clan and an artist from the Tuscarora Nation, incorporates Tuscarora heritage into her designs. She combines techniques such as porcupine quillwork, beadwork and weaving with modern styles, WHYY reports. Smith has included weaving in at least one model’s outfit and has used black ash basket weaving to build wearable art for a collection.
Smith told WHYY that Indigenous people remain resilient and continue to thrive. The Delaware Art Museum’s event listing names Smith and Ixtli as the featured artists for Living in the Present.
Part of a Larger Push for Indigenous Visibility
The museum has previously presented Indigenous fashion programming, including Living Indigenously: Through the Culture of Fashion, which honored Indigenous Peoples Month and explored what the museum called the vibrant tapestry of Indigenous nations across the Americas. That November 2025 show featured the Delaware Nanticoke Indian and New Jersey Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribal Nations alongside designs by Julieta Zavala, according to the museum’s event page.
The fashion programming is part of a broader run of Indigenous-focused projects at the museum. Living Indigenous, an exhibition developed in partnership with the Nanticoke Indian Museum, was on view from Feb. 28 through Aug. 23, 2026, with related programming that included the museum’s 5th Annual Powwow of Arts and Culture, gallery talks, tours and expanded school-tour curriculum. The prior year’s 4th Annual Powwow of Arts and Culture was held April 12, 2025, in partnership with the Nanticoke Indian Association as a free event starting at 11 a.m., according to Delaware Public Media.
Local Programs and a Wider Fashion Context
The Delaware Art Museum says its Living Indigenous exhibition developed from earlier projects with the Nanticoke Indian Association, including annual Powwows of Arts and Culture and the November 2025 program Living Indigenously: Through the Culture of Fashion, according to the museum. Elsewhere, the National Museum of the American Indian presented Native Fashion Now in New York from February 17 to September 4, 2017. The exhibition featured nearly 70 works spanning 50 years, making it distinct from a runway event. As a separate sector example, Indigenous Fashion Arts says its programming is intended to advance and empower Indigenous artists and designers, according to the National Museum of the American Indian and Indigenous Fashion Arts.
