ZieherSmith is pleased to present Jana Harper’s Ancestor Bulletin. This short-form mail-order publication is organized around five main topics: water, island, family, history, and institution. The work documents Harper’s research and creative practice about and with the Mackinac (Island) Band of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians. Both hand-bound editions include issues 1-39.

The work is currently on view at the gallery and is available in two formats: the black and white limited-edition book is $100 and the risographed special edition boxed set is $400 and includes a hand-printed canvas tote designed by Harper. A percentage of proceeds will go to the Mackinac Bands legal fund supporting their continued struggle for federal recognition.

To receive an occasional (free) bulletin in the mail, please send your name and address to ancestorbulletin@gmail.com.

You can also view this piece at the Frist Art Museum through April 26, 2026 in the group exhibition, In Her Place.

Jana Harper is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores the themes and tensions between materiality and transcendence, chance encounters and human willfulness, relationships and connectivity, and human acts of meaning making. With a background in somatic practices, she works in both individual and collaborative settings and is interested in how the burdens of history can be transformed through gestures of love and empathy. She has exhibited and performed at institutional venues including the National Gallery of Art, the de Young Museum, Vanderbilt University Museum, and the Havana Biennial. She lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee.