Three items have come across my desk/email lately that celebrate Native American beadworkers, and I wanted to share:

The Summer 2017 cover article of First American Art is beadwork by Marcus Amerman. The interview with the artist includes questions about creativity, what he needs for his creative process, his travels, his dream project, and his hopes for his creative legacy.

Reading from the preface, long-time Minnesota Historical Society curator Marcia G. Anderson wrote A Bag Worth a Pony: The Art of the Ojibwe Bandolier Bag as the culmination of a “three-decades-long love affair with gashkibidaaganag [bandolier bags]. I have scoured archives, museums, and other sources to learn about their origins and makers; I have met, learned from, and become friends with many contemporary Ojibwe bead artists, tribal government representatives, and keepers of the history of these communities.” Lois Sherr Durbin writes it is “Beautifully illustrated, carefully researched, and sensitively written…” I’m a big fan of MHS books – and this one is no exception.

And finally, New Mexico’s Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian presents the exhibition, “Beads: A Universe of Meaning” through April 15, 2018. “The exhibition traces the history of imported glass beads as a medium of exchange, artistic expression, and identity for indigenous peoples throughout North America.”