Jump to content

Mona Cliff

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mona Cliff
Born1977 (age 47–48)
Alma materCornish College of the Arts
Haskell Indian Nations University
OccupationArtist
StyleBeadwork
Websitemonacliff.com

Mona Cliff (born 1977) is a Native American (Aaniiih/Nakota) beadwork artist, muralist, and installation artist based in Lawrence, Kansas. Cliff uses seed beads to create landscapes[1] and sculptural pieces.[2]

Cliff has two pieces in the permanent collection of the Kansas City Museum in Kansas City, Missouri[3] and one in the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.[4] Her work has been exhibited at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri.[5]

Life

[edit]

Cliff grew up in the Pacific Northwest. At age 19,[6] she learned traditional beading from her grandmother, who also gave her the Aaniih name HanukGahNé.[1] She attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in printmaking.[3] She is an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre of Fort Belknap.[7] She is Frozen Clan (Aaniiih) and Medicine Bear Clan (Nakota).[8]

Cliff moved to Kansas in 2004, where she met her husband, who is Osage,[9] while the two were attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence.[10] They have three children, all of whom are enrolled with the Osage Nation.[3][9] She was a stay-at-home mother from 2009 until 2018, when she began pursuing art as a career.[11]

In Fall 2022, she was an artist in residence at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka.[12] As of 2022, she was working as a DEI Indigenous communities representative for the Kansas Creative Arts Industry Commission.[13]

Cliff was one of 19 artists chosen to create pieces for the Kansas City International Airport terminal, which opened in 2023.[1] In 2023, she completed four murals in Kansas.[14][3] In May 2023, she was one of three artists in the exhibit "Roadside Inappropriation" at Teepee Junction, at U.S. 24 and 40 highways north of Lawrence, Kansas. The exhibit aimed to explore the appropriation of culture by tourist shops and attractions; Cliff's piece was a teepee painted with contemporary designs.[15] In July 2023, one of Cliff's works, "Morning Bird", was acquired for a permanent exhibit at the CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.[16]

Cliff was picked for the National Museum of Women in the Arts's exhibit "New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024".[17] Her piece in the exhibit, "Past/Presence/Future" (2020), is a beaded gas mask. Cliff was inspired to make the piece after visiting the Cahokia mounds and discovering a landfill near the site. Her work was also influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ideas of indigenous medicine and knowledge.[2] In October 2024, she completed another mural in Lawrence, Kansas.[7]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Denesha, Julie (October 14, 2022). "Mona Cliff evokes the subtle beauty of Kansas hills and sunsets with millions of tiny beads". KCUR. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Smith, David (April 22, 2024). "'Great change is possible': female artists grapple with social and political upheaval". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Mona Cliff". Belger Arts - KC,MO. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  4. ^ "Recent Acquisitions". Mulvane Art Museum. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  5. ^ "Mona Cliff/ Hanukgahné". Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Hawley-Bates, Savannah (December 3, 2023). "At Kansas City's first Native art market, an intertribal community comes together: 'We're still here'". KCUR.
  7. ^ a b "A view of Lawrence: Social Service League building gets facelift, new mural". The Lawrence Times. October 24, 2024. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  8. ^ "We Are The Keepers Mural Project". ArtsConnect. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  9. ^ a b Winter, Jordan (April 5, 2023). "4 of the most colorful murals in Lawrence". The Lawrence Times. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  10. ^ "Celebrating Kansas City and All Its Traditions (From Here and Abroad)". flatlandkc.org. December 21, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  11. ^ "Repaint History Call for Art Fund Recipient: Mona Cliff". Repaint History. March 29, 2022. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  12. ^ Roe, Betsy (October 21, 2022). "Fall Artist in Residence Mona Cliff". Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library.
  13. ^ Nally, Jared (June 23, 2022). "Working from a Past Heading to a Future". www.travelks.com. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  14. ^ Hrenchir, Catheryn. "Latino, Native and Black history in Topeka is celebrated in new mural in Topeka's NOTO Arts District". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  15. ^ Long, Chansi (May 11, 2023). "Artists' works respond to roadside attractions that lean on stereotypes and misappropriate cultures". The Lawrence Times. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  16. ^ McTavish, Brian (July 24, 2024). "Arts News | KC women's art on permanent exhibit at CPKC Stadium". KC STUDIO. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
  17. ^ Ellison, Brian; Wilson, Aurora (July 30, 2024). "Lawrence artist Mona Cliff wants her work to help carry knowledge across generations". KCUR. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mona_Cliff&oldid=1264782802"