Courtney M. Leonard

Courtney M. Leonard (born 1980) is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, and activist from the Shinnecock Nation in Long Island, New York. Her work revolves around issues of ecology and Native identity, specifically their intersection with water, which is essential to the Shinnecock. Leonard primarily uses clay and her ceramic artwork has been inspired by the whaling coastal culture of the Shinnecock Nation. She has contributed to the Offshore Art Movement and now focuses on her work, BREACH, which is centered on environmental sustainability. Leonard's early life and her identity was heavily influenced by the coastal way of life of the Shinnecock community.

In 2014, Leonard began BREACH, a mixed media project that delves into the multiple definitions of the word, as well as, how it pertains to her life as a member of the Shinnecock Nation. With her work, she confronts audiences with the question, "Can a culture sustain itself when it no longer has access to the environment that fashioned its culture?"

Leonard currently resides in Northfield, MN.

Education Courtney M. Leonard attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She received her associate degree in art and museum studies in 2000. Two years later, she received her bachelor's degree from Alfred University's NY College of Ceramics. Leonard received her Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2008.

Artworks Leonard has been working with clay since she was young but her first experience understanding the connection between herself and working with clay was in high school. From then on, she began using her artwork with ceramics to focus on the issues that the Shinnecock community faces with the ocean environment and sustainability.

2014 BREACH: LOG 2014, MoCNA, Santa Fe, NMLEVEL/LAND, Lloyd Kiva New Gallery, Santa Fe, NM 2015 BREACH: LOG 2015, Stephens Art Gallery, University of the Ozarks, Santa Fe, NM 2016 BREACH: LOG 2016, ASU Art Museum: Ceramic Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 2017 BREACH: LOG 2017, Santa Fe Art Institute: Water Rights Residency, Santa Fe, NM 2018 BREACH: LOG 2018 - “EUPHOTIC”, Tansey Contemporary, Denver, CO 2023: Courtney M. Leonard: Logbook 2004–2023, the Heckscher Museum of Art; BREACH: Logbook 23, Planting Fields Foundation

Group exhibitions Sources: She was awarded the 2018 National Artist Fellowship from The Native Arts and Culture Foundation.