Nellie Zelda Star Boy Menard (June 3, 1910 – September 23, 2001) was an American quiltmaker and educator. In 1995, she received a National Heritage Fellowship.

Early life

Nellie Zelda Star Boy was born on the

Rosebud Indian Reservation The Rosebud Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation in South Dakota, United States. It is the home of the federally recognized Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who are Sicangu, a band of Lakota people. The Lakota name ''Sicangu Oyate'' translates as t ...

in South Dakota, the daughter of Burton (Bert) Star Boy and Grace Jane Long Warrior. She was a member of the Sicangu Lakota (or Brulé) people. She graduated from the Flandreau Indian School.

Career

Menard worked as an educator at the Flandreau as a young woman. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she operated the Rosebud Arts and Crafts Store in South Dakota and the Northern Plains Arts and Crafts Store in Browning, Montana. In 1941, she was one of four Native American artists invited to participate in an exhibition at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

in New York, where she met First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

. She worked for the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

Rapid City Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

for 30 years, assisting Dorothy Field as director of the Rapid City Museum, among other responsibilities. Menard became known as a community quiltmaker in the Northern Plains style, which involves one large colorful star made of diamond-shaped fabric pieces. She worked with the Michigan Traditional Arts Program at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. In 1995, she received a National Heritage Fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, and the South Dakota Living Indian Treasure Award.

Personal life and legacy

Star Boy married Clarence Menard. They had children Jack, Martina, D'Arcy, William, and Luther, and raised a number of other children. Her husband died in 1989, and she died in 2001, aged 91 years. Her quilts are in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian,

South Dakota Art Museum South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

, Michigan State University, and the

New England Quilt Museum The New England Quilt Museum, founded in 1987, is located in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts and is the only institute in the Northeast solely dedicated to the art and craft of quilting. It is the second-oldest quilt museum in the United States. I ...

References

External links

"Nellie Star Boy Menard and Mrs. Bordeaux"
a photograph from about 1940, in the Helen M. Post Collection, Amon Carter Museum of American Art
"Nellie Star Boy Menard at Fair"
a photograph from about 1940, in the Helen M. Post Collection, Amon Carter Museum of American Art
A star quilt by Nellie Star Boy Menard
in the collection of the

Michigan State University Museum The Michigan State University Museum most commonly referred to as the ''MSU Museum'' is Michigan State University's oldest museum formed in 1857. It is the state of Michigan's first Smithsonian Affiliate. It was formed to support the work of th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menard, Nellie Star Boy 1910 births 2001 deaths American quilters Rosebud Sioux people People from Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American textile artists 20th-century women textile artists Lakota women artists Lakota artists Textile artists from South Dakota Native American textile artists