Museum Exhibits

Coming Soon:

A Family Heritage: The Creative Legacy of William V Smith and the Smith Family

September 5th - December 12th, 2025

This exhibition celebrates the 50-year anniversary of when the SRJC Jesse Peter Memorial Native American Museum opened its doors on Sept. 27, 1975. This Museum was the creation of SRJC instructor William “Bill” Smith, son of a Dry Creek Pomo mother and a Bodega Bay Miwok father. Curated by Bill’s daughter, Sherrie Smith-Ferri, the exhibit surveys the creative legacy of five generations of his family: his grandmother, Rose Bill Lozinto; his mother, Lucy Lozinto Smith; his sisters, Kathleen Rose Smith and Nancy Napolitan; his nephew, Bruce Smith; his great-niece Stephanie Ferris, his granddaughter, Rachael Smith-Ferri, and, centrally, Bill, himself.

Currently on Exhibit:

Breaking Traditions, Saving Traditions:
Elsie Allen and the Legacy of Pomo Basketry

This remarkable collection of baskets and accompanying material will have resided at Santa Rosa Junior College for 20 years in 2023, yet it has never been exhibited in its entirety since arriving here. For the collection’s 20th Anniversary at Santa Rosa Junior College, all the baskets will be on display, filling the museum, along with photographs, previously unseen videos, and stories of the weavers themselves.

Exhibit funded by the SRJC Foundation