The Autry's newly renovated gallery for temporary exhibitions is dedicated to viewing the history of California through an environmental lens. The space opens with the Autry’s first-ever solo show dedicated to a Native American woman’s life and work. Mabel McKay (1907–1993), a Long Valley Cache Creek Pomo woman from Northern California, represents a fascinating modern figure who maintained traditional ways. McKay is celebrated not only as a master basketweaver, but also for her many roles as traditional healer, advocate for her community and the environment, and teacher who shared her knowledge of Pomo traditions worldwide.

McKay had a spiritual connection to the plants she wove into her baskets, a deep respect for the birds she used for her feather work, and longstanding ties to the cultural traditions of her ancestors. Interviewed for an article in the magazine American Indian Basketry in 1983, Mabel said: “collecting the sedge is spiritual, just like weaving the basket is spiritual.”

Widely considered to be one of the greatest California basketweavers of all time, McKay’s masterworks are highlights of the exhibition. A homey tableau reproduces McKay’s work environment, and other personal items in the exhibition include her deerskin dress, doctoring suitcase, and the lunch box she carried to her job at a cannery. The exhibition also reveals the “Life of a Basket,” introducing the many stages of cultivation, harvesting, and processing necessary to prepare materials, as well as a variety of weaving techniques used in Pomo basketry.