With just over two weeks remaining, a UCR ARTS exhibition featuring nearly 800 photographs documenting life at Sherman Indian High School will close Nov. 2 at the Culver Center of the Arts.
"Off Reservation: Sofia Valiente and the Photo Students of Sherman Indian High School" showcases work created during a two-year collaboration between UCR MFA alumna Sofia Valiente and students in Monica Royalty's film photography class at Sherman, one of only four remaining Native American boarding schools in the United States.
"It was important that we as curators selected images that demonstrated strong artistic and compositional skills, but also a range of subject matter," said curators Lindsey Hammel and Kathryn Poindexter-Akers. The photographs capture everything from daily routines like cleaning dorms and relaxing between classes to field trips, cultural events and visits home to reservations during breaks.
The exhibition marks the latest project in a 28-year relationship between Sherman and UCR's Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts, supported by the Max H. Gluck Foundation. Valiente served as a Gluck Fellow artist-in-residence at the school from 2022 to 2024, working with art teacher Monica Royalty, who hosted fellows at the school for nearly the entire partnership until her retirement in 2024.
"Sofia Valiente spoke about how important it was that the students make the photography project what they wanted it to be," the curators noted. "She got cameras donated for them, gave them simple prompts, and photographed alongside them. She didn't go in with any preconceived ideas of how to teach them photography but instead let the students take the lead."
Sherman Indian High School, founded in 1892 in Perris before relocating to Riverside in 1903, represents a complex chapter in American history. Originally established by the Bureau of Indian Education as part of the American Indian Residential School system, such institutions historically aimed to forcibly assimilate Native children by removing them from their families and suppressing their languages and traditions.
Today, the school operates under a transformed mission to "teach, embrace, and preserve the indigenous language, customs, and tradition." Native American staff, board members and students now manage the institution, which serves as a second home to high school students from reservations across the United States.
Valiente, a former boarding school student whose recent documentary work focuses on behavior modification programs, brought unique perspective to the collaboration. "Part of what made Sofia such a great mentor and collaborator for the students is that she has a body of artwork informed by her own experience at a boarding school," the curators explained.
Student photographs from 'Off Reservation' document life at Sherman Indian High School through the lenses of 14 student photographers working with artist Sofia Valiente from 2022 to 2024. (Courtesy of UCR ARTS: Culver Center of the Arts)
The exhibition prioritizes student voices through their own reflections posted throughout the gallery. "It was very important to us that students felt ownership over their stories," Hammel and Poindexter-Akers said. "These reflections are posted throughout the exhibition so that the student voices are prioritized over any curatorial voice."
While one wall provides historical context about the school for visitors unfamiliar with its past, including two historic images from the California Museum of Photography collection, the rest of the exhibition centers entirely on contemporary student perspectives.
All participating students received printed copies of "TRBL," a photo book created with Valiente as part of the project, along with copies of their photographs included in the book. Valiente maintains the digital files and remains in contact with students for future print needs.
The exhibition takes on added significance as Sherman currently lacks an art teacher following Royalty's retirement, leaving the school without a formal art education program and unable to continue the Gluck Fellows partnership.
"In this unfortunate way, highlighting the artwork presented by this group of students has become even more crucial, because right now, we don't know when they'll have an art education program or those resources again," the curators said.
More information: The Culver Center of the Arts is located at 3834 Main St. in Downtown. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibition closes Nov. 2. A recorded conversation between Valiente, participating students and their teacher is available on the UCR ARTS website.
