About the Artists

Edwin George Artist Statement, 2004

I am a full blooded Eastern Band Cherokee Native American folk artist. My work reflects images I recall from my life growing up in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. My primary purpose for painting is to help people understand my Cherokee culture. I use the Cherokee syllabary (language symbols) in many of my works because it identifies my people. I want the viewer to learn something about Cherokee life. I use symbolic images that tell stories and myths about the plants, animals, medicine, and early life of my ancestors. I learned these stories from my daddy and mama and aunt Martha. These paintings originate from within and radiate my inner being. They take much concentration, sometimes six or seven months to paint a 2'x3' canvas. I want to create a balance with the colors and figures in my work. My art is my way of teaching about my people because the stories were told to me in my language, and I have difficulty translating the words into English.I start my paintings with a central image which relates to a story. Then I paint other figures around it. For example, in the painting "Bear Washes his Face", the bear is the central figure. Cherokee people believe the bear is half human. Observation of the habits of the bear are very important to my people. The bear in the painting is seen at dawn, washing his face near Clingman's Dome, a popular landmark in the Smoky Mountains near my home. This ritual was practiced by my father. When I was a boy, I had to rise early in the morning with him to go to the creek and give thanks to the spirit of the water. Another recurring Cherokee symbol that appears in my work is the Raven. The Raven is a shapeshifter who travels between this world and the spirit world. The Raven takes the form of the human being in order to transfer medical knowledge and healing to the Cherokee people. One symbol that appears frequently in my work is Yona Skina, or Bear Devil. Yona Skina is a symbol of my own creation and relates directly to my great uncle. I feel he was responsible for preserving many Cherokee stories that are still around today. Without Yona Skina, much of the Eastern Band Cherokee oral history would have been lost. I started painting late in life with no formal training. My inspiration came from my desire to teach children my stories despite my poor English vocabulary. In 2001, I created a work that was reproduced on a wall in the front entrance of The Cherokee Casino Hotel in Cherokee, North Carolina. Twelve high school students were involved in applying my design to the 11'x27' wall. This is an example of my ultimate goal in painting: To preserve my Cherokee culture and keep the stories alive for future generations.

Bio for Dona Greene

Dona is a retired educator who taught at Kent State University for seventeen years in the Education College in Early Childhood Education. She holds a masters degree in Children’s Literature and World Cultural Education, from Kent State. Her travels have taken her to countries around the world with visits to China, Japan, Sweden, Russia, Uzbeckistan, Georgia, England, Germany and Peru. During her time teaching she melded her interest in Native American Cultures and Outdoor Education into many workshops for teachers. Dona Greene also contributed to the publication ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AT THE EARLY CHILDHOOD LEVEL, Ruth Wilson, editor, published by North American Association for Environmental Education 1994. The article entitled “Keepers of The Earth: Environmental Awareness for Early Childhood Educators”, pp.66-75, was written for teachers who use the outdoors as a classroom.Dona Greene presented a workshop “Outdoor Education Through the Eyes of Native Americans”, at the National Association of the Education for Young Children conference in New Orleans, in 1992.Since retirement Dona Greene has been teaching home schooled children Native American Cultural Studies, including her extensive work with Lakota at the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, the Cayuga and Onondaga Nations in central New York and the Eastern Band Cherokee in Cherokee, North Carolina. She has been studying these cultures to be more authentic in her story telling about native myths and legends for school presentations and community gatherings. Currently she is partnering with Edwin George, celebrated Cherokee artist who paints stories of his Eastern Band culture. School presentations have included Field Local Schools, middle school literature classes and Central kindergarten classes, Crestwood Intermediate School fourth grade classes in Mantua, third grade classes from Kent with college classes at Mt. Union, in Alliance, and student teachers at Kent State. There have been numerous presentations at Kent Art Galleries including Edwin’s art and Dona’s storytelling, since 2004.