Shinnecock Artist Adrienne Terry Receives NYSCA FY2026 Artist Support Award for Long Island Native Territory

Award Will Support a 2026 Solo Exhibition at Ma’s House

Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio, Inc. is thrilled to announce that Shinnecock artist Adrienne Terry has been awarded $10,000 in Support for Artists funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for Fiscal Year 2026. Her funded project, Long Island Native Territory, will culminate in a 2026 solo exhibition at Ma’s House, highlighting her powerful practice of burnt text and illustration on leather.

Terry’s work honors Shinnecock history, sovereignty, and lived memory through a medium that holds deep cultural resonance. By imprinting text and imagery directly into leather through burning, she creates tactile, enduring records of Indigenous presence—stories that refuse erasure.

Throughout 2026, Terry will collaborate closely with Ma’s House Curator Brianna Hernandez, who will support the development, refinement, and exhibition of the new body of work. Their partnership will bring forward a compelling visual narrative rooted in Shinnecock experience and Long Island’s original Native territories.

“We’re incredibly proud of Adrienne,” said Ma’s House founder Jeremy Dennis. “Her work is both bold and ancestral, using materials tied to our traditions to speak to contemporary issues of identity, sovereignty, and remembrance. This NYSCA award affirms the importance of her voice and the urgency of her practice.”

As fiscal sponsor, Ma’s House will support Terry in fulfilling all terms of the NYSCA grant agreement while ensuring the project’s successful completion during the grant period—January 1 through December 31, 2026.

Adrienne Terry will receive a separate letter from NYSCA outlining her responsibilities, payment details, and reporting schedule. The grant will enable her to expand her leather-based artworks into a full solo presentation for the community and region to experience next year at Ma’s House.

For press inquiries, interviews, or additional information about the project or Ma’s House programming, please contact:mashousestudio@gmail.com