Travois First Fridays

Friday, Oct. 4 | “Generational Knowledge” by Mona Cliff   

6-8 p.m.: Exhibition open to the public
6:30 p.m.: Artist talk

Travois is a Certified B Corporation^® focused exclusively on promoting housing and economic development for American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian communities.

Our mission with Travois First Fridays is to support and promote American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, First Nation, Inuit, Métis, and Indigenous Mexican artists through juried exhibition. Our vision is to see Indigenous artists more prominently featured and powerfully supported in metropolitan Kansas City.

Mona Cliff was born in Prescott, AZ, was raised in Portland, OR, and currently resides in Lawrence, KS. She is an enrolled member of the Aaniiih (White Clay people) tribe, and has Polish and German heritage. She uses traditional Indigenous techniques in conjunction with contemporary images. Mona explores the subject of identity, culture and mixed heritage.

Mona earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. During that time, she used photoetching and collage to explore issues of Native identity in contemporary America, by using humor to address stereotypical ideas of Native people and identity. After graduating, she turned to traditional Native methods as a way of further understanding the connection of Indigenous identity.

“In this series ‘Generational Knowledge,’ I am creating a space to honor what has been labeled ‘woman’s work.’ I am looking toward the mediums and conduits of craft, how Indigenous cultures thrive and are created in the quiet corners of a home,” said Mona. “My art is rooted in my Aaniiih and Eastern European heritage. I use my art to explore the concept of woman as gatekeepers of cultural knowledge, how this knowledge forms personal identity and is passed down generationally to create traditions.”

Learn more about her on Instagram @Spottedcloud and on Twitter @Spotted_cloud.

Preregister and receive two drink tickets at the event (21+). All ages are welcome to attend the event.

After 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, please register at the door upon your arrival. 

By registering, you agree to receive email updates from Travois.