“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 an interdisciplinary artist, designer, educator, and scholar based in Umoⁿhoⁿ, Ní Btháska (anglicized as Omaha, Nebraska). Fascinated with fashion, identity, and the healing power of beauty from a very young age, I see creation as an act of care.

 

Working across mediums, I blur the lines and challenge the definitions of 'fine art' and 'decorative art.' Using material, texture, color, line, shape, pattern, and linguistics as language, I explore the stories held within our bodies, our relationships, and our histories. Weaving these elements together through textiles, adornment, traditional mediums, and digital technologies, 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 ways of creating, working, seeing, and knowing.

 

Notably, my 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. For ten+ years my scholarship on indigenizing and decolonizing western art and design practices has been shared at numerous national and international conferences and institutions, including Central Saint Martins College of Art and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.  I have also participated in the Indigenous Haute Couture residency at Banff Centre for Art and Creativity, Amplify Art’s Alternate Currents cohort, and Great Plains Theatre Commons’ Design Wing; served as a founding board member for Healing Ribbons; and as faculty at several institutions including Interlochen Academy Summer Intensives, Banff Centre, George Washington University, and University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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Ultimately aiming to foster kinship and dialogue, my work invites relationship and reflects my deep understanding that beauty is medicine.

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