The Seminole Nation Museum is honored to announce the receipt of a generous Rehoming Grant totaling $8,422 from the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This award accompanies a series of significant gifts rehomed to the Museum as part of the Coe Center’s ongoing Rehoming Program, a national initiative designed to return artworks and cultural materials to their originating tribal communities. The program precedes the planned closure of the Coe Center at the end of 2025.

As part of this effort, the Seminole Nation Museum has received a number of important historic items—including a mid-twentieth-century sweetgrass-woven lamp, a man’s Seminole patchwork jacket, traditional Seminole ball sticks, and a substantial collection of Seminole, Miccosukee, Muscogee, and Southeastern Native American books. These publications, which span topics in history, culture, and art, constitute a valuable addition to the Museum’s research library and enhance its capacity to support scholarship and cultural learning.

The Rehoming Grant is intended to support the Museum’s ongoing stewardship of these artworks and may be used for conservation, exhibition, interpretation, staff support, storage enhancement, or community engagement and educational initiatives. These funds will allow the Museum to continue preserving Seminole cultural heritage while expanding public access to these significant materials.

“We are deeply grateful to the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts for this meaningful support,” said [Insert Museum Director or Representative]. “The Coe Center’s commitment to reconnecting artworks with their communities strengthens cultural relationships and creates new opportunities for sharing knowledge. These rehomed pieces will enrich our exhibitions, educational programs, and research collections for years to come.”

The Coe Center has asked participating institutions to share public reporting on the impact of the artworks and accompanying grant. The Seminole Nation Museum looks forward to providing updates as this work progresses and encourages the public to follow along through Museum announcements, social media, and future exhibitions.

More information about the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts and the Rehoming Program is available on their website.