“If my mother can understand what I’m doing with a native eye, then it’s successful…”
“By speaking about the history and values of my people through my work, I can help bring balance into the world my children will grow up in.”
-Teri Greeves
Craft in America Theme: Origins
Lesson Overview:
In this lesson, students will study the work of bead artist Teri Greeves. After watching the Craft In America Origins DVD segment featuring Greeves, students will examine how Greeves’ beadworking signifies and honors her Kiowa heritage. Students will look for examples of decorated garments in their experience that indicate belonging to a group. Following this, students will hand embellish an item of wear with an image symbolic of a particular group.
Grade Level (8-12)
Estimated Time (Six 45-minute class periods)
Background Information:
Beadworking has been found in cultures all around the world. Early beads were made of shells, seeds, animal teeth, porcupine quills, and other objects found in nature. Kiowa artist Teri Greeves learned beadworking from the women in her family and from others on the Shoshone and Arapaho’s Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Greeves helped her mother in a family-owned trading post where beadworking was honored as a valuable and culturally significant art. Although she has a deep respect for tradition, Greeves opts for “pictorial” work rather than the traditional floral or geometric designs. She depicts stories of the Kiowa people, but from a contemporary perspective. The artist often applies beadwork to modern-day objects such as umbrellas and sneakers.
• Beadworking is an art found in many cultures.
• Clothes and symbolic imagery can signify belonging within a group.
• Since ancient times, people around the world have adorned themselves artistically.
• How does Teri Greeves’ artwork connect the generations in her family?
• How are cultural traditions continued?
• When might a garment identify the wearer as belonging to a particular group? What value might this have?
Students will:
• Become familiar with the tradition of beadworking in Kiowa and Native American culture.
• Explain how Teri Greeves’ work forms a connection among her ancestors, her mother, herself and her sons.
• Describe ways different groups use adornment for group identification.
• Embellish an article of clothing or accessory with a design indicating group identification with relevance to the student.
Kiowa, pictorial, motif, adorn, garment
Language Arts, History/Social Studies
Content Standard:
4. Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.
5. Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others.
Resources:
• Craft in America DVD, Origins • The work of Teri Greeves can be found at Shiprock Santa Fe.
• The National Museum of the American Indian has examples of beadwork including beaded shoes by Teri Greeves.
Worksheets:
• Beadworking Past and Present
• Designs of Belonging
Materials for Studio Production:
• Beading needles (eyes are small enough to thread through beads)
• Beads (seed bead size)
• Sturdy thread, fine enough to pass through needle
• Beeswax for thread (available at sewing supply store)
• Felt, cotton or linen fabric, one 6” square per student
• For designing: sketch paper and colored media (markers or pencils)
• For transferring design: tissue paper or erasable marking pens (available at sewing supply stores)
• Embroidery needles
• Embroidery floss
• Acrylic paint
• Fine point brushes
• Student choice of object to decorate: cell phone pocket, hat, backpack, etc.
Download the Teri Greeves Origins Guide in .PDF Format or as separate guides for each theme. [Get a copy of Acrobat Reader free from Adobe HERE if you don't already have it installed on your computer]
Teri Greeves Education Guide
Teri Greeves Guide Worksheets
