About Tea and Talk: Exhibit Previews with Curator Tess Lukey
Join us for a series of winter lectures at Fruitlands Museum. We’ll be gathering in the Museum cafe to enjoy some hot beverages and lively discussions about the history of the site and its collections.
The 2026 Main Season at Fruitlands Museum begins on April 30! To celebrate, we’ll be hearing from Associate Curator of Native American Art, Tess Lukey (Aquinnah Wampanoag), who will be discussing her two new shows opening at Fruitlands this season.
On April 30, the new exhibit Eye of the Beholder will be opening in our Four Seasons Gallery. Highlighting objects from the collection, this show takes a deep dive into Clara Endicott Sears and how her eclectic interests shaped Fruitlands!
On June 4, we’ll be opening a special Creative Process Gallery in our Seasonal Gallery as part of the Trustees-wide exhibit The Land Tells Our Stories. Featuring a video installation as well as touch-able objects, this space will allow visitors to explore how three different artists worked to create outdoor sculptures throughout the state that reflect ideas of storytelling and placemaking.
About the speaker:
Tess Lukey joined The Trustees in 2022 as our first-ever Curator of Native American Art to develop exhibitions and research initiatives related to The Trustees’ Indigenous art collections. She holds a bachelor’s degree in ceramics and art history from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and a master’s degree in Native American art history with a minor in museum studies from the University of New Mexico. She has worked for the Museum of Fine Arts and the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, and the John Sommers Gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and completed fellowships at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and the Hibben Center for Archaeology Study and the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology in Albuquerque.
As an Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal member and lifelong New Englander, Lukey works across the state, and is based both at Fruitlands Museum and the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum. She works closely with community members, collectors, and donors for potential acquisitions while offering broader access to and knowledge of The Trustees’ collections of art made by Indigenous peoples. In her spare time, Lukey is a traditional potter and basket weaver practicing the techniques of her own Indigenous community. She currently lives in Sutton, Mass., the ancestral home of the Nipmuc Nation, with her partner and children.
Other lectures in this series:
Saturday, February 21:
Tea and Talk: Enslavement in the Puritan Village with Local Historian Jane Sciacca
Saturday, March 21:
Tea and Talk: Women’s History Month Spotlight Talks
Cancellation Policy: In the event The Trustees cancels a program due to severe weather, low enrollment, or other circumstances, we will notify registrants by email and issue a full refund or transfer to another scheduled program within two weeks of the cancellation. To cancel a reservation, please contact Fruitlands Museum 7 days prior to the start of the program to receive a full refund. Refunds and transfers will not be granted for cancellations placed fewer than 7 days before the start of the program. As a general policy, The Trustees does not issue refunds for weather-shortened programs, in keeping with our standard approach to outdoor programs and the unpredictability of New England weather.
Questions? Want to become a Trustees member and enjoy free and/or discounted programs? Contact ibohling@thetrustees.org.
Register
