Martha Berry (artist)
Encyclopedia
Martha Berry is a Cherokee
beadwork artist, who has been highly influential in reviving traditional Cherokee and Southeastern beadwork, particularly techniques from the pre-Removal period.
. She is a registered tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Her grandmother and mother taught her how to sew and embroider at age five. She made her own clothes and became a professional seamstress. She has expanded her skills by developing elaborate beadwork art. She taught herself the lost art of Cherokee beadwork by studying photographs of artifacts and examining Cherokee beaded artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution.
s, belts, knee bands, purses and sashes. She often uses beadwork designs that evolved from pre-Contact Mississippian pottery into traditional 18th and 19th century Southeastern beadwork. Berry discovered a unique stitch only used on Southeastern sashes.
She has won innumerable prizes for her beadwork at the Cherokee Art Market, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Heard Museum
, and the Cherokee Heritage Center
. Berry has delivered lectures on the revival of pre-Contact Cherokee beadwork at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia; the Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ; Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, TX; Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa; Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City; Creek Council House Museum in Okmulgee, OK; and the Cherokee Heritage Center in Parkhill, OK. Photographs of her work have been published in many books and magazines. For a full list of prizes, lectures, workshops and publications visit her website at www.berrybeadwork.com.
Berry recently curated Beadwork Storytellers: A Visual Language, a Cherokee beadwork exhibition at the Cherokee Heritage Center
in Park Hill, Oklahoma
. The exhibition included beadwork from Scottish collections which had not been seen in the United States in almost two centuries. Berry also wrote the text for the show catalog.
with her husband, David. Her daughter, Christina Berry, is also a beader, photographer and publisher of "All Things Cherokee." Her daughter, Karen Berry, is a Cherokee gourd artist.
She served as a delegate to the 1999 Cherokee Nation
Constitution Convention in Tahlequah, Oklahoma
. She is currently an active member of several Cherokee organizations including the Cherokee Artists Association
.
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
beadwork artist, who has been highly influential in reviving traditional Cherokee and Southeastern beadwork, particularly techniques from the pre-Removal period.
Background
Martha Berry was born and raised in Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. She is a registered tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Her grandmother and mother taught her how to sew and embroider at age five. She made her own clothes and became a professional seamstress. She has expanded her skills by developing elaborate beadwork art. She taught herself the lost art of Cherokee beadwork by studying photographs of artifacts and examining Cherokee beaded artifacts at the Smithsonian Institution.
Artwork
Berry creates beaded bandolier bags, moccasinMoccasin
A Moccasin is a form of shoe worn by Native Americans, as well as by hunters, traders, and settlers in the frontier regions of North America.Moccasin may also refer to:* Moccasin , an American Thoroughbred racehorse-Places:...
s, belts, knee bands, purses and sashes. She often uses beadwork designs that evolved from pre-Contact Mississippian pottery into traditional 18th and 19th century Southeastern beadwork. Berry discovered a unique stitch only used on Southeastern sashes.
She has won innumerable prizes for her beadwork at the Cherokee Art Market, the Five Civilized Tribes Museum, the Heard Museum
Heard Museum
The Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a museum located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. There is also the Heard Museum North Scottsdale branch in Scottsdale and the Heard Museum West branch in Surprise....
, and the Cherokee Heritage Center
Cherokee Heritage Center
The Cherokee Heritage Center is a non-profit historical society and museum campus that seeks to preserve the historical and cultural artifacts, language, and traditional crafts of the Cherokee. The Heritage center also hosts the central genealogy database and genealogy research center for the...
. Berry has delivered lectures on the revival of pre-Contact Cherokee beadwork at the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia; the Bead Museum in Glendale, AZ; Tyler Museum of Art in Tyler, TX; Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa; Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City; Creek Council House Museum in Okmulgee, OK; and the Cherokee Heritage Center in Parkhill, OK. Photographs of her work have been published in many books and magazines. For a full list of prizes, lectures, workshops and publications visit her website at www.berrybeadwork.com.
Projects
Berry participated in the Native American Community Scholars Grant Program of the Smithsonian Institution. She has visited their collections to do further research into pre-Removal Southeastern beadwork, which has informed her own work.Berry recently curated Beadwork Storytellers: A Visual Language, a Cherokee beadwork exhibition at the Cherokee Heritage Center
Cherokee Heritage Center
The Cherokee Heritage Center is a non-profit historical society and museum campus that seeks to preserve the historical and cultural artifacts, language, and traditional crafts of the Cherokee. The Heritage center also hosts the central genealogy database and genealogy research center for the...
in Park Hill, Oklahoma
Park Hill, Oklahoma
Park Hill is a census-designated place in southwestern Cherokee County, Oklahoma in the United States. The population was 3,936 at the 2000 census. It lies near Tahlequah, east of the junction of U.S. Route 62 and State Highway 82.-History:...
. The exhibition included beadwork from Scottish collections which had not been seen in the United States in almost two centuries. Berry also wrote the text for the show catalog.
Personal
Berry lives in Tyler, TexasTyler, Texas
Tyler is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, in the United States. It takes its name from President John Tyler . The city had a population of 109,000 in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau...
with her husband, David. Her daughter, Christina Berry, is also a beader, photographer and publisher of "All Things Cherokee." Her daughter, Karen Berry, is a Cherokee gourd artist.
She served as a delegate to the 1999 Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation
The Cherokee Nation is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It was established in the 20th century, and includes people descended from members of the old Cherokee Nation who relocated voluntarily from the Southeast to Indian Territory and Cherokees who...
Constitution Convention in Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Tahlequah is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, United States located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It was founded as a capital of the original Cherokee Nation in 1838 to welcome those Cherokee forced west on the Trail of Tears. The city's population was 15,753 at the 2010 census. It...
. She is currently an active member of several Cherokee organizations including the Cherokee Artists Association
Cherokee Artists Association
The Southeastern Indian Artists Association is located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Cherokee Artists Association, the group promotes and protects the interests of Native American, Southeastern, and Native Artists. The Cherokee Artists Association has over one hundred Native...
.