BEMIDJI — Region 2 Arts Council’s Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Council recently awarded a $5,000 fellowship to beadwork and leatherwork artist Teresa McDowell of Williams, Minn.

The AAI Fellowship is made possible by the McKnight Foundation and aims to assist the region’s most talented enrolled tribal members and descendants in their artwork by awarding financial support to fund creative time, purchase of arts materials, supplies and equipment or arts research and experiences that facilitate depth and advancement in their art form, a release said.

Eligible artists must have a substantial body of work and must reside in Minnesota’s Beltrami, Hubbard, Lake of the Woods, Clearwater, Mahnomen, Becker, Itasca, Roseau or Cass counties.

McDowell is an Ojibwe artist with a rich cultural heritage that encompasses both European and First Nations ancestry. She was born in Baudette to Canadian parents, and raised in Rainy River, Ontario. She started drawing at a young age and it was her main art form until her mid-20s, when she started painting.

As a self-taught beadwork artist, she makes moccasins and mittens and has been making traditional native wearable art for many years. She uses high-quality materials to make mittens, moccasins, mukluks and bags. Each item is carefully stitched together with heavy-duty thread, partly by hand and partly by machine.

Hailing from Treaty 3, McDowell is deeply influenced by the Ojibwe and Metis florals of her ancestors. She often combines both traditional and contemporary patterns in her beadwork. She is also Vice President of the Lake of the Woods Art Guild.

The Anishinaabe Arts Initiative Council is a body comprised of Indigenous artists and arts appreciators from our region.