Sandy Fife Wilson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sandy Fife Wilson
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Fife in 1971
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| Born | 1950 (age 74–75) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | art teacher, artist |
| Years active | 1976– |
Sandy Fife Wilson, born in 1950, is a talented artist, fashion designer, and art teacher from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She is known for blending traditional Native American art forms with modern styles. After studying at the Institute of American Indian Arts and Northeastern Oklahoma State University, she became a dedicated art teacher.
Wilson taught art in public schools and at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She also taught at Chilocco Indian School before it closed. Later, she worked in the Morris Public School system until she retired in 2009. In 1976, Sandy and her sisters started the Fife Collection. They created modern fashion that used traditional techniques and designs from Southeastern Native American cultures. Their beautiful work was displayed in many museums and festivals. Sandy Fife Wilson also creates traditional Creek split-cane baskets, shell carvings, and fingerweavings. She has won many awards for her art throughout her career.
Early Life and Education
Sandy Fife was born in 1950 in Dustin, Oklahoma. She grew up on her grandfather's land, which was near the border of Hughes and Okfuskee Counties. Sandy was the youngest of six children. Her family had a long history of artists and teachers. Her grandfather carved wood and stone, and her father drew with colored pencils. Her mother, who was a teacher, taught Sandy how to do fingerweaving when she was just ten years old.
Sandy went to Graham High School in Weleetka, Oklahoma. After high school, she continued her art studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 1965 to 1969. There, she learned from famous artists like Neil Parsons and Fritz Scholder (for painting), Seymour Tubis (for printmaking), and Josephine Wapp (for traditional design). In 1969, Sandy started university at the College of Santa Fe. In 1970, she moved to Northeastern Oklahoma State University. She earned her bachelor's degree in art in 1973 and finished her graduate studies there in 1978.
Career as an Educator
After getting her bachelor's degree, Sandy Fife taught art for two years at Dewey Public School. In 1975, she married Lawrence A. "Al" Wilson, who was a math teacher. That same year, the couple moved to Santa Fe. Sandy Wilson began teaching design courses at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She took over from Josephine Wapp, who had retired.
Wilson's teaching style combined old and new art ideas. She taught classes like "Decorative Techniques" and "Traditional and Contemporary Fashion Design." She made sure her students understood the history of traditional clothing. Then, she showed them how to use those old designs in new ways. Her weaving classes used many different types of looms and techniques. Students worked with various materials, not just fabric, but also bone, feathers, leather, and porcupine quills. She also taught them how to do beadwork using a bead loom.
Wilson started a fashion group called "Full Moon Fashions." This group helped her students design and sell their artwork. It also helped them connect with the local community. Students even modeled their own designs and hosted the fashion shows. One of her students, Wendy Ponca, hosted a show in 1977. The fashion shows were very popular and became an annual event. Students also traveled to other states to show their work.
In 1979, Wilson was offered a teaching job at the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Chilocco Indian School. She moved back to Oklahoma, where her three children, Laura, Clint, and Dan, were born. When Chilocco School closed in 1980, she started teaching art in the Morris Public Schools. She taught there until she retired in 2009.
Art and Fashion Design
Even as a student, Sandy Wilson showed her artwork in different places. She gave a demonstration at the Wichita Art Museum and was chosen to be an artist at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair in 1969. She also showed her work in Oklahoma and Virginia. In 1972, Wilson won first place in the contemporary textile category at the Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition.
In 1976, Sandy and her sisters, Phyllis Fife and Sharon Fife Mouss, started a company called Fife Collection, Inc.. They focused on fashion design. Their designs used traditional patterns and methods from the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands. These included Cherokee fingerweaving, Delaware appliqué, and Muscogee designs from pottery. They also used Seminole patchwork designs. They put these traditional elements into modern clothes, adding beadwork, embroidery, and ribbonwork.
In 1979, the Southern Plains Indian Museum held an exhibit of the Fife Collection's work. The exhibit also included pieces from their mother and other sisters. While the main focus was on Native American fashion, the show also featured paintings, embroidery, handbags, jewelry, quilts, and wall hangings.
Throughout her career, Wilson has shown her art and fashion designs in many places. These include the Kirkpatrick Center and the Governor's Arts Awards at the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City. Her work has also been displayed at Broadmarket Square in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the Indian Paintbrush Gallery in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Red Earth Festival, and the Santa Fe Indian Market. The Santa Fe Indian Market is known as the "largest juried Native American art market in the world."
In 2007, Wilson went back to school herself. She studied basketweaving, flute making, Muscogee hymns, pottery making, and shell carving at the College of the Muscogee Nation in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. She used these new skills in her classrooms. After she retired, she gave demonstrations at the Northeastern State University Center for Tribal Studies. Her recent work focuses on traditional split-cane Creek baskets, finger-woven clothing, and shell carvings.
Sandy Fife Wilson has received many awards for her art. In 1995, she won the Grand Heritage Award from the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. In 2016, she placed second in the traditional objects category at the Santa Fe Indian Market.
