Karita Coffey (born 1947) is a

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

ceramist, noted especially for producing ceramic versions of cultural items from her tribe, in addition to ceramic vessels. She also works in lost-wax cast metals

Background and education

Karita Coffey's Comanche name is Tsat-Tah Mo-oh Kahn, which translates to "Good-Handed." Coffey lived in Lawton,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, before beginning her artistic training at the

Institute of American Indian Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

when it was still a high school. She earned her bachelor's of fine arts and graduate degree from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

Career

Karita later taught at IAIA for 25 years before retiring in 2015 to work on her sculpture. Coffey's work is informed by aspects of

African art African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the African diasporas, su ...

and the art of the

Australian Aborigine Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

s as well as by her own heritage.

Exhibitions

* ''Contemporary Native American Art'' at the Gardiner Art Gallery at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, 1983 * ''Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar, and Sage'', Gallery of the American Indian Community House, travelling exhibition curated by

Harmony Hammond Harmony Hammond (born February 8, 1944 in Hometown, Illinois) is an American artist, activist, curator, and writer. She was a prominent figure in the founding of the feminist art movement in 1970's New York. Early life and education Harmony Ha ...

and

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (born 1940) is a Native American visual artist and curator. She is an enrolled member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and is also of Métis and Shoshone descent. She is also an art educator, art advocate ...

, 1985. * ''Anticipating the Dawn: Contemporary Art by Native American Women'', at the Gardiner Art Gallery at

, curated by

Anita Fields Anita Fields (born 1951) is an Osage/Muscogee Native American ceramic and textile artist based in Oklahoma. She is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation. Fields is recognized internationally for her work in ceramics, often rendering functio ...

, 2000.

Public collections

Her work is represented in the collection of the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

, which holds four works by Coffey. The works were created between 1970–71 and were initially purchased by the

Indian Arts and Crafts Board The Indian Arts and Crafts Board (IACB) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior whose mission is to "promote the economic development of American Indians and Alaska Natives through the expansion of the Indian arts and craft ...

, then transferred to the National Museum of the American Indian in 1985. Coffey's work is also in collections of the

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Overview The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...

, the

Millicent Rogers Museum The Millicent Rogers Museum is an art museum in Taos, New Mexico, founded in 1956 by the family of Millicent Rogers. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated ...

, the

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

, and the

IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

References

1947 births Living people American women ceramists American ceramists 20th-century ceramists 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century ceramists 21st-century American artists 21st-century American women artists Institute of American Indian Arts alumni University of Oklahoma alumni Institute of American Indian Arts faculty People from Lawton, Oklahoma Sculptors from Oklahoma Native American women artists Comanche people American women academics National Museum of the American Indian 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans Native American women academics {{US-sculptor-stub