List of Native American artists from Oklahoma facts for kids

This list is about amazing Native American artists from Oklahoma. These artists were born, lived, or currently live in what is now Oklahoma. They create beautiful and important art.

Basket Makers

Basket weaving is an ancient art. Artists use natural materials to create baskets for many uses.

• Lena Blackbird (from the Cherokee Nation) is a talented basket weaver.
• Mike Dart (born 1977, Cherokee Nation) also weaves baskets.
• Mavis Doering (1929–2007, Cherokee Nation) was a famous basket weaver.

Beadwork Artists

Beadwork is the art of sewing beads onto fabric or other materials. It creates colorful designs.

Martha Berry, a bead artist from the Cherokee Nation.

• Tahnee Ahtone is a bead artist from the Kiowa, Muscogee, and Seminole tribes.
• Richard Aitson (1953–2022) was a bead artist from the Kiowa and Kiowa Apache tribes.
• Martha Berry is a well-known bead artist from the Cherokee Nation.
• Vanessa Jennings is a beadwork artist from the Kiowa, Kiowa Apache, and Pima tribes. She also makes traditional clothing and tipis.
• Lois Smoky Kaulaity (1907–1981) was a Kiowa beadwork artist and painter. She was one of the famous Kiowa Six artists.

Ceramic Artists

Ceramic artists create pottery from clay. This can include pots, bowls, and sculptures.

• Mel Cornshucker (born 1952) is a ceramic artist from the Keetoowah Band Cherokee.
• Anita Fields (born 1950) creates ceramics and is from the Osage and Muscogee tribes.
• Anna Mitchell (1926–2012, Cherokee Nation) helped bring back the art of Cherokee pottery for the Western Cherokee people.
• Jeri Redcorn (born around 1940) is a ceramic artist from the Caddo and Citizen Potawatomi tribes.

Dancers

Many Native American artists are also famous dancers, especially in ballet.

• Yvonne Chouteau (1929–2016) was a famous ballerina from the Shawnee Tribe.
• Rosella Hightower (1920–2008) was a talented ballerina from the Choctaw tribe.
• Moscelyne Larkin (1925–2012) was a ballerina from the Peoria and Shawnee tribes.
• Maria Tallchief (1925–2013) was a world-famous ballerina from the Osage tribe.
• Marjorie Tallchief (born 1926) is also an amazing ballerina from the Osage tribe.

Diverse Cultural Artists

This section highlights artists who create many different types of traditional and cultural art.

Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings, a Kiowa-Pima-Kiowa Apache artist who makes traditional clothing.

• Mildred Cleghorn (1910–1997, Fort Sill Apache Tribe) was known for making dolls.
• Ardina Moore (1930–2022) was a fashion designer, language teacher, and textile artist from the Quapaw and Osage tribes.
• Josephine Myers-Wapp (1912–2014, Comanche) was skilled in finger weaving, beadwork, and textiles.
• Hastings Shade (1941–2010, Cherokee Nation) made traditional marbles and gigs (a type of fishing spear).
• Tommy Wildcat (from the Cherokee Nation, Muscogee, and Natchez tribes) is a flute maker.

Fashion Designers

Native American fashion designers create unique clothing, often inspired by traditional styles.

• Lloyd Kiva New (1916–2002, Cherokee Nation) was an important educator, fashion designer, and painter.
• Wendy Ponca (born 1960, Osage) is a fashion and textile designer.
• Margaret Roach Wheeler (born 1943, Chickasaw/Choctaw) is a talented weaver.

Installation Artists

Installation artists create large art pieces that often fill a room or space.

• Edgar Heap of Birds (born 1954, Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes) is an installation artist and painter.
• Holly Wilson (born 1968, Delaware Nation/Cherokee) creates sculptures and installation art.

Jewelers

Jewelers create beautiful pieces like necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.

• Heidi Bigknife (from the Shawnee Tribe) is a jeweler and sculptor.

Painters

Painting is a very popular art form among Native American artists.

Benjamin Harjo, Jr., a painter and printmaker from the Absentee Shawnee and Seminole tribes.

Virginia Stroud, a painter from the United Keetoowah Band.

Ernest Spybuck, an Absentee Shawnee painter, around 1910.

• Spencer Asah (around 1905–1954, Kiowa) was a painter and one of the Kiowa Six.
• James Auchiah (1906–1975, Kiowa) was also a painter from the Kiowa Six.
• Fred Beaver (1911–1976, Muscogee Creek/Seminole) was a well-known painter.
• Acee Blue Eagle (1907–1959, Muscogee Creek) was a famous painter.
• Blackbear Bosin (1921–1980, Kiowa/Comanche) was a painter and sculptor.
• T.C. Cannon (from the Kiowa/Caddo tribes) was a painter.
• Woody Crumbo (1912–1989, Citizen Potawatomi) was a celebrated painter.
• Talmadge Davis (1962–2005, Cherokee Nation) was a painter.
• Enoch Kelly Haney (born 1940, Seminole/Muscogee) is a painter and sculptor.
• Benjamin Harjo Jr. (1945–2023, Absentee Shawnee/Seminole Nation) was a painter and printmaker.
• Sharron Ahtone Harjo (born 1945, Kiowa) is a painter and ledger artist.
• Joan Hill (1930–2020, Muscogee Creek/Cherokee) was a painter.
• Jack Hokeah (1902–1973, Kiowa) was a painter and one of the Kiowa Six.
• Allan Houser (1914–1994, Chiricahua Apache) was a famous sculptor and painter.
• Norma Howard (born 1958, Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw/Mississippi Choctaw) is a painter.
• Stephen Mopope (1898–1974, Kiowa) was a painter and one of the Kiowa Six.
• Doc Tate Nevaquaya (1932–1996, Comanche Nation) was a Flatstyle painter and a Native American flautist.
• Harvey Pratt (born 1941, Cheyenne-Arapaho) is a painter and sculptor.
• Virginia Stroud (born 1951, United Keetoowah Band-Muscogee) is a well-known painter.
• Dana Tiger (born 1961, Muscogee Creek/Seminole/Cherokee) is a painter.
• Jerome Tiger (1941–1967, Muscogee Creek/Seminole) was a painter.
• Johnny Tiger, Jr. (1940–2015, Muscogee Creek/Seminole) was a painter and sculptor.
• Monroe Tsatoke (1904–1937, Kiowa) was a painter and one of the Kiowa Six.

Photographers

Photographers capture moments and stories through images.

• Jennie Ross Cobb (1881–1959, Cherokee) was a photographer.
• Shan Goshorn (1957–2018, Eastern Band Cherokee) was a photographer.
• Horace Poolaw (1906–1984, Kiowa) was a notable photographer.

Printmakers

Printmakers create art by making prints from a carved surface.

• America Meredith (born 1972, Cherokee Nation) is a painter and printmaker.
• Jackson Narcomey (born 1942, Muscogee Creek) is a painter and printmaker.

Sculptors

Sculptors create three-dimensional art pieces from various materials.

Harvey Pratt, a painter and sculptor from the Cheyenne-Arapaho tribes.

• Sara Bates (born 1944, Cherokee Nation) is a sculptor and mixed-media artist.
• Joseph L. Erb (from the Cherokee Nation) is a painter, sculptor, and animator.
• Bill Glass Jr. (from the Cherokee Nation) is a sculptor.
• Fernando Padilla, Jr. (born 1958, San Felipe Pueblo/Navajo) is a painter and sculptor.

See also