MONAH is excited to welcome back Cherokee artist Matthew Anderson for Creative Visions: Moccasin Making!
Moccasin Making with Matthew Anderson will be held Saturday, January 25th from 10am - 3pm, with an hour long lunch break (lunch provided) where participants will learn how to make the Southeast Woodland Peoples Pucker-Toe Style Moccasin. Learn how to create a pattern and how to make a traditional Cherokee foot covering from one piece of leather. Beware! These may be the most comfortable foot sheaths you’ve ever worn and you may not want to take them off!
Creative Visions is a monthly series that invites Native artists to speak and lead workshops on modern and traditional forms of Native American Art. Creative Visions is open to anyone ages 14 and older. Free registration required online through the MONAH website or by calling the museum. Attendance will be taken at the door prior to entering the event space.
Registration opens on January 1, 2020.
Photo by Matthew Anderson.
Matthew Anderson, Cherokee
A diverse-media artist, Anderson has studied many forms of art and has been immersed in the oldest forms of Cherokee art since childhood. He is at least a seventh generation basket weaver that has continued since prior to forced removal from the Southeast Woodlands. His 6th great-grandfather, Chief Big Cabin was 37 years old when Cherokee Nation became the state of Georgia and although Anderson practices the same skills as were passed down to him, his ancestors did not call themselves Artists.
Cherokee community has always been important and although he spent his first three years in California, due to the “other” removal that resulted from the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, his family made frequent visits to Northeast Oklahoma. Today the majority of his family resides within 40 miles of the Goingsnake District where the original land allotment was located. He calls the scenic beauty of the hills around Lake Tenkiller home and is located just outside Tahlequah Oklahoma.
Art is in his blood and although he has no formal art education, he credits his ancestors for the many skills he has acquired. He attended Connors State College of Nursing and has worked for the Indian Health Services in nursing and still keeps up skills as a private-duty nurse. Much of his living history experience is due to time working at the Cherokee Heritage Center and later was Artist in Residence for their “1710 Hands on Exhibit”. Anderson serves as instructor for the First Peoples Fund, board member of Southeast Indian Artists Association (SEIAA), Arts Council of Tahlequah (ACT) and the American Indian Resource Center (AIRC). He currently works at the Cherokee Arts Center & Spider Gallery where he helps artists hone their skills in business training and professional development while curating the Spider Gallery for the Cherokee Nation Commerce Department.
In keeping with the duties of his Clan, Anderson is a teacher, storyteller and historian but finds time to win awards in Pottery, Traditional Basketry, Textiles and Painting. He assists with merit badges in primitive survival skills and offers ancient and modern art classes at the Cherokee Arts Center, Northeastern State University, Connors State College as well as communities across the country and through public schools with the Johnson O’Malley program and firmly believes that “Our rich and beautiful culture and heritage deserves to be shared with all.”
Follow him on Facebook or drop by the Spider Gallery at 215 S Muskogee Avenue in Tahlequah OK.
Photo by Matthew Anderson.