Jessica L. Horton

Jessica L. Horton serves as Associate Professor in the Art History department at the University of Delaware's College of Arts & Sciences, where her scholarship centers Indigenous artists within global narratives of modernity through transcultural movement of people, art, and ideas. Her work critically examines intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems, creative practice, and ecological-diplomatic theory while actively engaging with Native communities through collaborative exhibition curation.

Professor Horton's research investigates how Indigenous artists confront ecological crises and revitalize diplomatic traditions to recenter Earth within broken international systems. Her current project Fire Oppression: Burning and Weaving in Indigenous California involves direct collaboration with Native weavers and fire managers across California, examining cultural burning practices and weaving traditions as responses to colonial land management. This work extends her foundational research on Indigenous ecological knowledge systems and their relevance to contemporary environmental challenges.

Analysis of her publication trajectory reveals a decisive shift toward urgent ecological and diplomatic frameworks, with post-2020 works increasingly focused on climate change adaptation, Indigenous futurism, and collaborative fire management. Her scholarship demonstrates consistent engagement with California Indigenous communities while expanding to address global ecological crises through decolonial frameworks that challenge Western environmental paradigms.

Her research has received prestigious recognition through fellowships and grants from major institutions:

• Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts
• Getty Research Institute
• Clark Art Institute
• Terra Foundation for American Art
• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and Research Center
• Creative Capital Arts Writers Book Grant
• Two Wyeth Foundation Publication Grants

Professor Horton implements her theoretical work through experiential student mentorship, including collaborative curation of Native American art exhibitions with Indigenous communities. As a passionate member of the University of Delaware Antiracism Initiative's American Indian and Indigenous Relations Committee, she drives institutional change while applying Indigenous ecological principles to her personal life through construction of an earth-sheltered, solar-powered, fire-resistant house in northern California's coastal hills.