Anita Fields facts for kids

Anita Fields (born 1951) is a talented Osage and Muscogee Native American artist. She creates amazing art using clay (ceramics) and fabrics (textiles). Anita Fields lives in Oklahoma and is an official member of the Osage Nation.

She is famous around the world for her ceramic artwork. She often makes everyday items like purses, moccasins, and dresses out of clay. Anita Fields is also known for her special art displays in museums. These displays often share important ideas or stories. She also creates beautiful ribbonwork, which is a traditional art form using ribbons.

Many important museums have her artwork. These include the Heard Museum in Arizona and the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Her art has also been shown in many exhibitions. One notable exhibition was "Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists." This show traveled to several museums, including the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

In 2019, Anita Fields took part in a project at the Osage Nation Museum. It was called "Voices from the Drum." For this project, 19 drums were given to skilled Osage artists. Each artist created a unique design to put on their drum. Drums are very important in Osage culture.

Anita Fields is currently working with the Tulsa Artist Fellowship in Tulsa.

Early Life and Artistic Beginnings

Anita Luttrell was born in Hominy, Oklahoma, on the land of the Osage Nation. She is part of the Osage Nation and also has family ties to the Muscogee Nation. She spent her early childhood on her grandfather's land. When she was about eight, her family moved to Colorado, where she lived until she was 18.

Her father worked as a guide and welder to support the family. Anita's grandmother on her mother's side was a seamstress. She taught Anita how to sew when she was a young girl. Anita loved making clothes for her favorite doll. These early creative activities helped her discover her love for art.

In third grade, Anita learned how to make fresco paintings and collage art. Her teacher at that time was very passionate about art. This teacher greatly influenced Anita's growing love for creating things.

Education and Artistic Journey

After finishing Wheat Ridge High School, Anita Fields went to the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). This art school is in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She studied there from 1972 to 1974. She first planned to focus on painting. However, she discovered many other art forms there. These included video, multi-media, clay, and sculpture. This helped her explore new ways to create.

Anita met her husband, Tom Fields, during a holiday in Colorado. Tom is also a Native American artist, from the Muscogee Creek and Cherokee nations. Anita left the art institute to start a family with Tom. Before having children, she took classes at community centers and museums. One of these was the Osage Nation Museum. During this time, she learned traditional Osage finger weaving and ribbonwork.

Later, Anita and Tom moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Anita then enrolled at Oklahoma State University. She earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts. After getting her degree, she decided to become a full-time clay artist. She shared her deep connection to her art. She said, "Because I'm able to use clay, and the earth, I have this really strong feeling of how the earth holds the memory of the people who were there."

Exploring Anita Fields' Artwork

Early in her career, Anita Fields made small sculptures, like tiny figures. She also created a series of small clay boxes with even smaller clay figures inside. During this time, she often used a technique called terra sigillata. This gives clay a smooth, shiny surface.

Anita's clay art is usually fired in an electric kiln. After firing, she often smokes the pieces using sawdust, straw, or leaves. This process gives the clay a unique look. Sometimes, she adds small raku ware pieces, like tiny elk teeth, to her unsmoked sculptures. Many of her artworks show figures. These figures represent spirituality and are not meant to be specific people. Anita explains, "I want to show the spirituality of us as women, how we fit into family, how we remain strong yet filled with love, and how we overcome all difficulties."

Clothing is a big inspiration for Anita's clay work. For her, clothes are a symbol of change and heritage. Some of her pieces are clay dresses that stand alone. Others show female figures wearing dresses. She also made a series of clay parfleches. These are traditional Native American containers. She was interested in how these containers represent the culture of the past. She was fascinated by what people create to take care of themselves.

Other examples of her art include masks, platters, and buckskin dresses made from clay. Her art often shows everyday home items. This is her way of honoring all women.

Anita was inspired by her son's graffiti art. She started adding distorted messages to her own work. For example, in her piece "Finding Our Way to the Earth," she used her grandmother's handwriting as background images. She said her grandmother kept detailed notes in calendars and notebooks. Anita noted, "My grandmother had really beautiful handwriting."

Exhibitions and Recognition

Anita Fields' artwork has been shown in many museums and art exhibitions. Here are some of the places where her work has been displayed:

• Heard Museum
• National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
• Museum of Art and Design
• Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian
• National Museum of Women in the Arts
• Sam Noble Museum, where her work was part of "Fluent Generations: The Art of Anita, Tom, & Yatika Fields"
• Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
• Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN
• Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
• Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK.
• "Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists" (2019), which was shown at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Awards and Honors

Anita Fields has received several important awards for her art. In 2021, she was given a National Heritage Fellowship. This award comes from the National Endowment for the Arts. It is the highest honor the United States government gives for folk and traditional arts. Also in 2021, she received the Anonymous Was A Woman Award.