When Tidelands Gallery opened last September along Seattle’s rapidly evolving waterfront, it was, in a sense, a full-circle moment for photographer Matika Wilbur. The 6,000-square foot Indigenous-owned creative space, comprising an art gallery, production studio, rental space, and boutique, is just steps away from the Pike Place Hill Climb, where Wilbur had her first studio.

“Sovereignty in art as an Indigenous person includes the capacity to self-determine the direction of your art.”

“The goal of Tidelands, and for many years my personal goal, has been to create a space that centers Indigenous representation in the arts,” says Wilbur, who is from the Swinomish and Tulalip peoples of coastal Washington. She opened the space with Teo Elisio Shantz, Tidelands’ creative director, whom she met over a decade ago through the local music scene. “I often wondered why there weren’t Indigenous-centered spaces in Seattle that foster art and scholarship in the way our people saw fit for themselves. Sovereignty in art as an Indigenous person includes the capacity to self-determine the direction of your art.”

Known widely for Project 562 — in which she set out to document at least one contemporary Native American person from each of the federally recognized tribal nations in the United States (the corresponding book, Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America came out in 2023 and is a New York Times bestseller) — Wilbur has long advocated for Indigenous-led spaces for creation, discussion, education, and storytelling.

At Tidelands, visitors can view and purchase art (exhibitions will rotate regularly) and merchandise (clothing, jewelry, ceramics) and attend events and classes such as Txwelšucid language courses, handcraft workshops, lectures, performances, and maker markets. The gallery also offers youth programming and internships. Thanks to Seattle Restored, a local nonprofit that helps activate empty storefronts, Wilbur and Shantz have the space for the next three years, over which they plan to uplift Indigenous voices, combating the traditional underrepresentation in all sectors of the arts, from photography and videography to podcasting and visual art. The throughline is — and will always remain — autonomy in all aspects of storytelling.

Aside from running the gallery, Wilbur is working on the fifth season of All My Relations, a podcast she currently hosts with Temryss Lane (Lummi Nation) and putting together a Project 562 book for children, to be published in the fall. She is also working on the production of two new shows: The Old Growth Table with Valerie Segrest (Muckleshoot), as well as Healing Talks with Vina Brown of artisan jewelry brand Copper Canoe Woman. “I’ve been fortunate to navigate the blue-chip art world,” Wilbur says, “but my focus now is creating opportunities for other Indigenous artists.”