The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (NEHMA) at Utah State University (USU) is presenting the exhibition Eagle Village: Sheila Nadimi featuring 38 photographs of Intermountain Intertribal Indian School (Intermountain) that was active from 1950 to 1984 in Brigham City, Utah. Nadimi documented the vacated and abandoned facility between 1996 and 2021 and selected the images with input from Intermountain alumni. This is the first time these photographs are being exhibited and shared with the public.
Using a manual Hasselblad medium-format camera, the Canadian artist first set out to photograph what was left of Intermountain’s facilities having encountered them when she moved to Utah in the early 1990s. The campus comprised 27 dormitory buildings, two school buildings, a gymnasium, and a maintenance building. Initially intrigued by the austere exterior architecture, once inside she discovered that the legacy of former Native American students was still present, seen in artwork throughout the buildings.
Eagle Village: Sheila Nadimi is the companion exhibition to Repainting the I: The Intermountain Intertribal Indian School Murals, also on view through December 6, 2025, which includes 11 recently restored murals that once adorned hallways and dorm rooms. The largest boarding school for Native Americans in the United States, it housed over 20,000 students from 99 tribes across the country during its 34-year operation. This is the first time that these murals are on display since the demolition of the campus over a decade ago.
While the Native American boarding school era in North America is heavily marked by the abuse, mistreatment, and systematic erasure of students’ identities, Native students at Intermountain found ways to assert their cultural heritage and navigate the constraints of an assimilationist system. Most other boarding schools primarily focused on strict policies to eradicate all forms of Native American cultural expression. At Intermountain and a small number of other schools, however, students leveraged opportunities such as the school’s robust arts programs to express their cultural identities and depict familiar landscapes. Through their creativity and perseverance, students incorporated tribal themes and imagery into their artwork. These acts of expression highlight the agency of Native students and the contributions of allies (primarily supportive educators and Native faculty and staff) who recognized and celebrated their resilience and artistry as Indigenous peoples.
Sheila Nadimi : Eagle Village
Until December 6, 2025
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
at Utah State University, Logan, UTAH.
650 N 1100 E
Logan, UT 84341
https://www.usu.edu/artmuseum/
sheilanadimi.com
