America Meredith (Cherokee Nation) is a painter, curator, educator, and editor of First American Art Magazine.[1][2] America Meredith is an artist and comes from a Swedish-Cherokee background who blends pop imagery from her childhood with European and Native American styles.[3]
America Meredith was born in 1972 to Howard Meredith, a Cherokee author and American Indian Studies professor, and Mary Ellen Meredith, a Cherokee museum director and curator. Meredith's maternal grandfather was William Thomas Milam, a Cherokee photographer and aeronautical engineer from Oklahoma. Both of her grandmothers were Swedish-American. W. T. Milam's uncle was J. B. Milam, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation, and his great-uncle was Will Rogers, a Cherokee humorist, actor, and movie producer.[4]
Meredith paints with acrylic, gouache, watercolor, and egg tempera.[7] In the series, The Cherokee Spokespeople Project, handmade paintings and drawings illustrate Cherokee words that are reproduced as spokecards, which were distributed to cycle couriers and cyclists worldwide.[8]
Art careeredit
In addition to her studio practice, Meredith curates shows such as Frybread and Roses: Art of Native American Labor (2006)[9] and Freedom of Information: The FBI, Indian Country, and Surveillance, which she co-curated with Ishkoten Dougi (Jicarilla Apache) in 2010.[10] At Ahalenia Studios in Santa Fe, Meredith and other Native American artists, such as Melissa Melero-Moose (Northern Paiute/Modoc) and Sam Haozous (Chiricahua Apache), curate shows "too edgy, too silly, or otherwise inappropriate for other local galleries."[11]
In 2019, she co-curated with Jean Merz-Edwards Stories from the Land: Indigenous Voices Connecting within the Great Plains at the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery,[12] and co-curated with Callie Chunestudy (Cherokee Nation) Earth Shakers: The Influence of Cherokee Women at the Cherokee Heritage Center.[13]
Meredith serves on the board of the Cherokee Arts and Humanities Council, a grassroots community organization based in northeastern Oklahoma.[17] She is active in the movement to revitalize Indigenous languages. Meredith says she sees Indigenous tribal people as "the future, not the past, in our globalized world."[2]
2012-13: Octopus Dreams: Works on Paper by Contemporary Native American Artists, 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM; Samara Regional Art Museum, Samara, Russia; Novosibirsk Biennial of Contemporary Graphic Arts, Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Novosibirsk, Russia; Togliatti Art Museum, Togliatti, Russia; Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Ekaterinburg, Russia.
2010–14: Indigenous Brilliance: Contemporary Native American Art Exhibition, Highgate Institute, London, England (2012); Palazzo Vecchio, Seborga, Italy; Casa de la Señoría, Olocau, Spain (2013); Amsterdam; curated by Elijah Vandenberg and Lyle Toledo Yazzie.
2012: Reconquête par l'Art, Festival America de Vincennes 2012, La galerie Orenda, Vincennes, France
2012: Messengers, Rainmaker Art Gallery, Bristol, England, curated by Joanne Prince.
2012: Low-Rez: Native American Lowbrow Art, Santa Fe, NM[23]
2009 United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Art Show. United Nations, New York, New York.[16]
^Staff (29 May 2013). "CN citizen launches 'First American Art Magazine'". Cherokee Phoenix. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
^ abc"Face to Face: Portraits by America Meredith." Archived 2011-07-25 at the Wayback MachineWheelwright Museum of the American Indian. 2006. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^"Three generations of artists exhibit work at Standing Buffalo Indian Art Gallery and Gifts." NewsOK. 31 March 2010. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^Curtis, Kim. "S.F. bike messengers aim to form own union They want higher wages, vacations, health benefits." Deseret News. 1998. Accessed 10 April 2011.
^"America Meredith." Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback MachineSoutheastern Indian Artists Association. 2011. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^"America Meredith: At the Crossroads." Archived 2011-07-22 at the Wayback MachineOklahoma Arts Council. 2007. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^Botlz, Gina. "Cherokee Artist America Meredith Puts Words on Wheels."[usurped]Native Village Youth and Education News. Accessed 10 April 2011.
^"Frybread and Roses." Archived 2011-04-29 at the Wayback MachineBlackash.org. 2006. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^Golar, Staci. "Art and activism collide." Native American Times. 22 March 2010. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^Sanchez, Casey. "Low Overhead, High Experimentation: Ahalenia Studios." Santa Fe New Mexican: Pasatiempo via Free Online Library. 31 Dec 2010. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^"Stories from the Land: Indigenous Voices Connecting within the Great Plains - Companion Exhibition". Kansas Humanities. 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^"New Exhibit Showcases the Impact of Cherokee Women Throughout History". Native Knot. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^"America Meredith, 2018 NSU Sequoyah Fellow, to present at Symposium April 19". Northeastern State University. 16 April 2018.
^"Best Painter (Tie) - 2006: America Meredith and Mitsy Avila Ovalles." Archived 2012-10-20 at the Wayback MachineSF Weekly. 2006. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^ abc"Vita". America Meredith Portfolio. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
^"About Us." Archived 2011-02-06 at the Wayback MachineCherokee Arts & Humanities Council. 2009. Accessed 9 April 2011.
^"Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting". National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^De Vore, Alex (20 Nov 2019). "It is to Laugh". Santa Fe Reporter. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^Kelley, M. (14 November 2019). "Hearts of Our People Shows Native American Traditions Are Alive and Well".
^"Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists". Minneapolis Institute of Art. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^"Outspoken at WCU Fine Art Museum". The Laurel of Asheville. Feb 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
^Native American Artists go Lowbrow in Low-Rez, Santa Fe.com, accessed 8-12-2012
^Sanchez, Aurelio. "Lichtenstein Show Traces Union of Pop, Native American Art." Albuquerque Journal. 12 Feb 2006. Accessed 9 April 2011.