“Aanii, ndinaawamagaanadog! Maygabow Ogidajew Kwe, nindizhinikaaz. Gaa-waabaabiganikaag ndoonjibaa, Migizi ndoodem. Hello, my relatives! My name is Woman Standing on the Mountaintop; Valerie St.Pierre Smith is my English name. A proud descendant of White Earth Nation, I am Eagle clan.”

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Wonderer and wanderer, I am a socially engaged experimental artist, designer, educator, and scholar based in Umoⁿhoⁿ, Ní Btháska (anglicized as Omaha, Nebraska). Fascinated with dress, adornment, identity, and the healing power of beauty from a very young age, I see creation as an act of care.

 

Working across traditional mediums and digital technologies, my creative practice blurs the lines and challenges the definitions of fine art. Using material, texture, color, line, shape, pattern, and linguistics, I explore themes of identity and beauty as medicine, and Indigenous futurisms through reconciliation. Weaving these elements together through costume, fashion and adornment, multi-media installation, design, writing, scholarship, and performance, I integrate my lived experience as a mixed-race urban Anishnaabe kwe into contemporary representation. ​​Rooted in the 7 Grandfather teachings, Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty, Humility, and Truth all guide my work aiming to foster dialogue, relationship, and repair.

 

Notably, my creative work has been seen across Turtle Island including at the National Museum of the American Indian, the Mountain Plains Contemporary Art Biennial, Calgary Fashion Week, McCarter Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Sea World: San Diego, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, and independent gallery and exhibition spaces. I have participated in residencies and creative cohorts at Banff Centre for Art and Creativity, Amplify Art’s Alternate Currents, and Great Plains Theatre Commons’ Design Wing.

 

My scholarly work on decolonizing art and design has reached national and international organizations and institutions, including Banff Centre for Art and Creativity and Central Saint Martins, Univeristy Arts London. International Indigenous Fashion Council founding member and International Liasion for Turtle Island, I am also a founding board member of Healing Ribbons, and have served as faculty and head of costume design at The George Washington University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I hold a B.F.A. from Stephens College and an M.F.A. from San Diego State University. #beautyismedicine

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​Interested in working together? Drop me a note, vsmithdesign@gmail.com, or follow me @valeriestpierresmith on Instagram!​​