Viola LeBeau is a Queer Indigenous artist, poet, curator, and the current Land Acquisition Coordinator, and Decolonial Media Adviser for The Circle Law Group, a Native American woman-owned law firm. 

They are a member of the Hammawi Band of the Pit River Nation, and a descendent of the Cahuilla, Maidu, and Cheyenne River Lakota, and previously served as the LandBack Coordinator and Media Member for the Sogorea Te' Land Trust. 

Their experiences navigating Indigenous and Queer activism and arts has created a foundation for their work that lends to cultural empowerment, survival, and a reflection of land, relations, and body. 

Born in Sacramento, home to the Nisenan, and a guest on the on the traditional Puebloan lands of the Tanoan and Keres speaking Peoples in Santa Fe, New Mexico, they received their BA in Sociology and Studio Arts from Mills College, and are pursuing an MFA in Studio Arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, while continuing to aid in the facilitation of the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

Exhibitions, Curations & Publications

Upcoming: Yook’ooyuhúm Mom: Scattered Water Droplets, Switchboard Gallery, Placerville, November 2024-January 2025

Sewín Tuulémɨsén Ha: Rivers and Relations, Lólmen Gallery, Shingle Springs Rancheria, October 2024-January, 2025

Momím Wene: Medicine Water, at Bank of America at Harris Center, Folsom Lake College, August-October 2024

Bind, The Languages of Our Love: An Indigenous Love & Sex Anthology, July 2024 (Publication) 

The West Berkeley Shellmound: A Legal Battle That Has Inspired A Generation, Know We Are Here, July 2023 (Publication)

Relations, Moments Co-op, October 2022 (Curator  & Participant)

Multiple Horizons, Crocker Art Museum, November 2020-May 2021
IllumiNativeSlidespace 123, November 2019 (Curator & Participant)
Pictures + Things,The Growlery, April 2019


Professional Inquiries

For work related opportunities: email theviolajoy@gmail.com


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