Courtney M. Leonard Art

08/30/2026

What wakes you? https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcq7iSYysAG/?igsi=MWZyaTJzdmN4b2JpZg==

08/16/2026

https://northforker.com/2026/08/indigenous-art-meets-maritime-history-in-greenport-exhibition/

Courtney M. Leonard, a Shinnecock artist whose work explores the connections between marine life, Indigenous communities and environmental and cultural issues, has a new exhibition on display at the East End Seaport Museum & Marine Foundation (100 3rd Street, Greenport, 631-477-2100). BREACH: Logbo...

08/13/2026

“BREACH: Logbook 26 | IMPOSITION #1”
Courtney M. Leonard, 2026
Carbon Reduced Shipping Pallet w/ Coiled Ceramic Carbon Fired S***m Whale Teeth | Pallet Dimension of Approximately 3’ x 4’ x height of the pile about 3’ high (60 teeth)

The newest work in the BREACH logbooks, “IMPOSITION #1”, explores the language of “imposition”, material access, environmental sustainability, cultural viability, and the documentation of time from the past to the present and our collective carbon future.

Now on View as a part of the exhibition “Pocket Full of Shells” Center for Native Futures through January 16, 2027 and Available via Center For Native Futures.

The Center For Native Futures in Chicago is an Indigenous artist-led non-profit organization dedicated to serving as an epicenter for Native creativity. Its mission is to bring together Native artists to imagine rich futures, challenge inaccurate portrayals, nurture creators at all career stages, and showcase living Native cultures through the lens of Indigenous Futurism.

08/12/2026

How is this allowed? Please help to make it illegal. What environmental protections do our waters have? Our Shinnecock Nation citizens canoe, kayak, fish, and gather clams along Heady Creek and we have never had to worry about “Limo” service impacting the environment in the way that this does and will. An egret flew by as their props were in the air pushing them through shallow waters.

Heady Creek is a shallow tidal tributary located on the eastern end of Shinnecock Bay in Southampton, New York. Water depths throughout this area and general parts of the bay are shallow, typically measuring under 10 feet at mean low water, with much of the creek consisting of much shallower shoal, salt marsh, and mud flat areas

Southampton Town Kathy Hochul 27east News 12 Long Island please help save Heady Creek

07/25/2026

The majority of my studio practice is based in memory… based in knowing… and unknowing… based in sifting through possibilities that exist beyond me… to bear witness… to honor… to record…

“IMPOSITION #1” is a work in progress… representing both ancestor and time… extraction… and sustenance… systems of oppression and burning imposition….

Throughout the work of BREACH it has been so interesting to hear people discuss their definition of carbon footprint and action… often their actions towards reduction are also inclusive of the exclusion of local indigenous people… our knowledge and our understanding…

The works of BREACH are layered… so I offer a single word for each work… a “title” from the language of imposition that many are forced to use… with hope that those that also bear witness may be able to navigate their own decision making towards which choice if any at all may be fitting…

Within the English language “Imposition” is defined as:

the laying on of something as a burden or obligation.
something imposed, as a burden or duty;

an unusual or extraordinarily burdensome requirement or task.

the act of imposing by or as if by authority.

an instance of imposing upon a person.

the act of imposing fraudulently or deceptively on others; imposture.

the ceremonial laying on of hands, as in confirmation or ordination.

Printing. the arrangement of page plates in proper order on a press for printing a signature.

the act of putting, placing, or laying on.

(Images: In Process Images of the newest work by Artist, Courtney M. Leonard entitled “IMPOSITION #1”, 2026 | Hand Coiled and Carbon Reduced S***m Whale Teeth Fashioned From Clay Resting Upon A Carbonized Shipping Pallet | Left to right: Tyrannosaurus rex tooth, extinct s***m whale tooth and contemporary s***m whale tooth. © Ben Healley/Museum Victoria)

05/24/2026

Courtney M. Leonard
BREACH:
LOGBOOK 26
CONVERGENCE
Convergence kan’varj(a)ns (noun):
the process or state of converging: the convergence of lines in the distance.
convergence zone: a location where airflows or ocean currents meet.

Tábūtní for a beautiful opening night in a place filled with history, memory, and love - I truly appreciate the invitation to have worked with you all through this winter and spring and to explore how our island has been shaped from hills to ports… where lighthouses share the green lit skies of the aurora seasons… and where we are blessed by the waters that sustain us… BREACH: Logbook 26 | CONVERGENCE - Opens this weekend to the public 🌊 Please visit if you are able as the exhibition will run through November 1st and also consider donating to your local non profit museums and centers as it takes a village where ever we are and this crew was so awesome to work with 🙌🏽 🌊💗 Can’t wait to see you all again for our future programming - And Tábūtní to Erin, Jacob, Paul and Clisby for the shared journey 🙌🏽

04/24/2026

Growing new wings…

04/21/2026

NOTICE: There’s this space that one may reach in life where it’s neither beginning nor end… for some reason reaching a dead end… encroached by rising waters… in a different part of town… through high tides… seemed to put my mind at ease regarding both ration-al and relation-all… understanding… that whether …no man is an island… or not… an island sure will teach you… its limits… its understanding… its knowing… and its acceptance… but it is up to you if you are ready… and for a long time i thought I was… and yet… if I could give haste to the new ones… or to the old me… I’d tell them to be careful… to take care of yourself… because when you create work that is so personal and so close to your lived and actively living experience… the audience expects more performance and less reality… much like a theater… consider setting the stage… as a third person… an other… give… some distance…some care… some understanding… protect yourself from drowning for an audience that came for a show… know… that… the ship is just a mere prop on a stage… and know that as the curtains close… you can take a bow… grab a drink… share some stories… and go home… to rest…to sleep… on a docked bed… in a home that isn’t engulfed by the current/currents… “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”

04/09/2026

PAY ARTISTS for their labor.
PAY ARTISTS for the use of their work.
PAY ARTISTS 💯

03/29/2026

Watching as the tide goes out… watching as the ospreys return… to nest… to rest… to dive… to sustain… wishing for a shoreline… that didn’t slowly fall through time… winter… to winter… spring to spring… storm… to storm… treading lightly over mussels… bound with reed and solitude… this bundle of abundance… simply trying its best to support so much… to you I give thanks… for carrying time… for trying to hold up what land we have left… as we consume you…