Alexandra Backford (1942–2010) was an

Aleut The Aleuts ( ; russian: Алеуты, Aleuty) are the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands, which are located between the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. Both the Aleut people and the islands are politically divided between the U ...

- American

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

from Alaska. She studied 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 ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label= Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. The name “S ...

, in the 1960s and has exhibited her work across the country. Some of her works are in the permanent collection of institutions including the

Smithsonian 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 ...

. Backford was the daughter of Constantine and Anna Backford of Nushakag, Clark's Point, Alaska. She said of her time at the institute, "I like it here." Some of her work features local landscapes and people at work.

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Alexandra Backford works at the National Museum of the American Indian
1942 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American painters 20th-century indigenous painters of the Americas 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century American women artists Native American painters Native American women artists Painters from Alaska Aleut people 20th-century Native American women 21st-century American women artists {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub