Katrina Mitten

Katrina Mitten (born 1962, Huntington, Indiana)[1] is a Native American artist. She is enrolled in the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.

Katrina Mitten
Born1937 (1937)
Huntington, Indiana
Known fortextile art, beadwork
Websitekatrinamitten.com

Mitten is beadwork artist, whose embroidery style of beadwork has earned her numerous awards and has been featured in major metropolitan museums.

Biography

Mitten is a descendant of one of the five Miami families who were allowed to stay after the establishment of the Indian Removal Act by Andrew Jackson. This act allowed him to relocate access to relocate Native people from their ancestral homelands. Those who were not relocated were encouraged to assimilate into Westernized civilization. Instead, they tried to pass on as much of their culture as possible

At the age of twelve, Mitten learned beading from her grandmother Josephine.[2] Josephine influenced a large portion of Mitten's works, including her 1950s handbag, which she has stated represents her family heritage. Mitten made this handbag collaborating with her granddaughter Saiyer Miller and teaching her using the same methods as her grandmother.

Mitten also learned more about her tribe by visiting museums and studying her families' heirlooms.[3] She is active on the powwow circuit.

She has created utilitarian works, such as The Cradle Board, as well as necklaces, bracelets, and beaded handbags. Other influences in her art include the geometric designs found in ribbonwork and the floral patterns depicted throughout the Great Lakes tribal beadwork.[4][5] She incorporates personal and family stories into her art pieces and uses her art as a means of story telling.[5]

In 2016 Mitten collaborated with Native American artists Katy Strass and Angela Ellsworth to create a painting of the states on a fiberglass statue of a bison.[6]

Two of her pieces, MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) and Ten Original Clans of the Myaamia, were acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Renwick Gallery's 50th Anniversary Campaign.[7][8][9]

Select artworks
  • Cradle Board[10]
  • "I have been waiting for you" outfit[11]
  • 1950's Handbag[5]
  • 1940s-styled bag[12]

Exhibitions

Collections

Mitten's artwork is held in the permanent collections of:

References
  1. "Katrina Mitten". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. Brackney, Susan (23 December 2019). "The Maker: Beaded Embroidered bags". Indianapolis Monthly.
  3. "Eitelijorg's Indian Market and Festival draws artists from across U.S. and Canada". 21 June 2018.
  4. Edge, Sami (18 August 2017). "Native Art Market 2014: Katrina Mitten". Santa Fe New Mexican.
  5. Indiana folk arts: 200 years of tradition and innovation. Kay, Jon., Traditional Arts Indiana., William Hammond Mathers Museum (Bloomington, Ind.). [Indiana]. ISBN 978-0-692-72355-5. OCLC 960881753.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Sandlin, Rebecca. "Three Local Lending Talents to State's 'Bison-Tennial'". The Huntington Country TAB.
  7. Savig, Mary; Atkinson, Nora; Montiel, Anya (2022). This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World. Washington, DC: Smithsonian American Art Museum. pp. 228–238. ISBN 9781913875268.
  8. "MMIW". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  9. "Ten Original Clans of the Myaamia". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  10. "Native American Cradleboards".
  11. "Katrina Mitten".
  12. Williams, Janet (21 June 2018). "Eiteljorg's Indian Market and Festival draws artists from across U.S. and Canada".
  13. "Native Art Market 2014: Katrina Mitten". Smithsonian.
  14. Article, Staffs. "Myaamia Heritage Museum & Archive Features Myaamia Artists" (PDF).
  15. Edge, Sami (18 August 2017). "A masterpiece 760 hours in the making".
  16. "Katrina Mitten". Eiteljorg Museum. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  17. "Catfish bag". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
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