A new exhibition opening at the Paterson Museum later this month will bring together photography, sculpture and sound to tell the stories of women from the Ramapough Munsee Lenape Nation. “Still Here: Root and Bone: Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation” opens November 23 and runs through April 2, 2027, highlighting cultural traditions and ancestral knowledge passed down through generations of Ramapough women.
According to the TAPinto Paterson report on the show, the exhibition brings together three artists exploring Indigenous women's connections to heritage and the natural world: photographer Lisa Levart, sculptor Joan Harmon, and sound artist Quasia Powell. The three collaborated to create an installation designed specifically for the Paterson Museum, combining portraits, plant-inspired sculptures and sound so visitors can explore Ramapough Munsee Lenape stories and traditions through multiple art forms at once, the outlet reported.
The Paterson Museum describes the installation as a project meant to “connect the history and mythology of Lenape culture with the contemporary identity of women in the Ramapough Munsee Lenape Nation today,” pairing the work of Levart and Harmon in a single space. The museum says the project was developed under the guidance of Grandmother Clara Soaring Hawk, who serves as ambassador of the Ramapough Munsee Lenape Nation, per the TAPinto Paterson account.
Portraits and Plant Sculptures Anchor the Show
One of Levart's photographs, titled “Sister Bird,” portrays Joyce DeGroat Gamble and is part of her broader Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation photo series, according to the TAPinto Paterson report. Harmon's contribution includes a sculpture called “Black Cohosh,” a six-foot-tall piece made this year out of paper, wax, metal and wood, the outlet reported.
The pairing of portraiture with sculptural and sound elements echoes how Lenape women's stories have been presented in other venues around the region. The “Still Here” portrait project, for instance, reopened with new portraits at Riverhook Preserve in April 2024, according to the project's own site, womenoftheramapoughlenapenation.com.
Reception and Film Screening Planned
The museum has scheduled a special reception for Saturday, December 12, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., giving visitors a chance to meet and speak with Levart and Harmon about the installation, per the TAPinto Paterson report. A separate event is planned for Saturday, January 16, 2027, when the museum will host a screening of Myles Aronowitz's short film “Still Here: Women of the Ramapough Lenape Nation,” followed by a panel discussion, with doors opening at 4 p.m.
Aronowitz's film has traveled to other venues as part of similar programming. The Mahwah Museum and Ringwood Public Library previously hosted a screening where, per Mahwah Museum, the filmmaker himself was present to discuss the project, and a panel discussion followed with women sharing stories from their culture and sacred mythology while addressing issues of identity facing them as Native American women. That earlier program was sponsored by the Ringwood Public Library and the Mahwah Museum and funded by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission.
Bergen Community College has also screened the film alongside a panel discussion with Ramapough Lunaape women focused on identity and survival, according to a listing on bergen.edu. The recurring format across these programs — screening paired with community discussion — reflects a broader effort to keep Ramapough Lenape women's stories visible across North Jersey.
Funding and Museum Details
The Paterson exhibition receives partial support from the Passaic County Cultural and Heritage Council's County History Partnership Program, which is itself made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Historical Commission, a division of the New Jersey Department of State, according to the TAPinto Paterson report. The Paterson project also appears among the Community History Partnership Program's 2025 awards, according to a listing from pccc.edu.
The Paterson Museum is located at 2 Market Street, at the corner of Market and Spruce streets within Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park, per the TAPinto Paterson report. With the exhibition set to run through early April, the museum is positioning the installation as a long-term home for Ramapough women's stories, art and traditions well into next year.
