Black Ash Basketry with Kelly Church, Ottawa and Pottawatomi Culture Bearer

Church’s work has been exhibited from the Grand Rapids Art Museum to the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery in DC. More important to the artist, she is continuing traditions traced back over two thousand years. She writes that she “comes from an unbroken line of black ash basket makers and (she) works with fibers of the woods and forests in Michigan to create weavings that share issues that affect us all, …especially those who come after us if we do not act today.” Church is nationally recognized for her work in Michigan Native communities. Some of her numerous awards include the 2018 National Heritage Fellowship, four-time recipient of the Artist Leadership Program at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and the Native Arts and Culture Fellowship. She recently received the Community Spirit Award from First Peoples Fund for her continued sharing of traditional teachings among Michigan Native communities, sustaining traditions for future generations. As a Culture Bearer, she says she is a teacher, Native woman, artist, activist, and part of her community and family, where all her teachings started.

Kelly Church is a graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts (AFA) in Santa Fe, and the University of Michigan (BFA).  She lives in Hopkins, just 26 miles from Kalamazoo and is a citizen of the Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians.