The annual James A. Cooper Memorial Lecture in Cherokee Studies is sponsored by the WCU Sequoyah Professorship, Cherokee Studies Program, College of Arts and Sciences, and the Museum of the Cherokee People.

2026 Lecturer: Luzene Hill (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), artist

Luzene Hill is a multidisciplinary artist, best known for immersive installation and performance art.

Through work informed by precontact culture of the Americas, Hill advocates for Indigenous sovereignty—linguistic, cultural, and individual sovereignty. Employing early autochthonous motifs, she asserts female power and sexuality to challenge male-dictated heirarchies.

Hill has exhibited throughout the United States, as well as Canada, Russia, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Awards include Ucross Fellowship, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship, Eiteljorg Museum Fellowship, Coosawattee Foundation, and First Peoples Fund. Recent residencies: IAIA MoCNA Social Engagement Residency, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Township 10, Boundary End Research Center, and studio artist at The Atlanta Contemporary Art Center. Hill’s work is featured in Jeffrey Gibson’s book, An Indigenous Present, Gender Violence, Art and the Viewer, Art, Activism, and Sexual Violence, The New Republic, and the PBS Documentary, Native Art NOW!.