ARTIST BIO

Amber L. DuBoise-Shepherd depicts contemporary Native American narratives based on her family heritage of Diné/Navajo (Enrolled), Sac & Fox (Affiliated), and Prairie Band Potawatomi (Affiliated). She has an AA from Seminole State College and received her BFA from Oklahoma State University with a minor in Business Entrepreneurship. Her mixed media pieces and oil paintings reference an illustrative quality. From her Diné side, she is born into her maternal clan Kinłichii'nii and from her maternal grandfather Tó’ahaní. From her Sauk side, she is born into the Mahwêwithowa, Wolf Clan, and her Sauk name is Mokehmêhshe. Her maiden name DuBoise is of French origin and has been traced back to Normandy, France, with the name translating to "of the wood". DuBoise-Shepherd was born in Shawnee, OK, but her parents moved back to the Navajo reservation until her and her year younger brother were old enough to attend school and then moved back to Oklahoma. DuBoise-Shepherd grew up in a diverse Native household and experienced many cultural aspects from her family including Diné weaving, Diné silversmithing, Woodland ribbon work and fashion, and beadwork.

 

She was accepted into OVAC’s Momentum exhibition in 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. In 2021, she was accepted as a Spotlight Artist by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She won grand prize and runner up in the IMAGEN Art Competition: “Native Tradition is Medicine: Resilience and Native Lifeways during COVID-19” in 2020. She recently won Honorable Mention in Painting for the 52nd Annual Trail of Tears Art Show & Sale for 2023. DuBoise-Shepherd was commissioned by the First Americans Museum, in 2020, to create and design an original oil painting that was converted into a large mural that is on display for the public in the FAM gallery. Her work was exhibited with four other Native American women artists in this universe is you exhibition at the Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum in OKC. In September of 2023, DuBoise-Shepherd was awarded The Rising Star Alumni Award at the Oklahoma State University, College of Arts & Science Hall of Fame ceremony. The Rising Star award is given to previous graduates who have excelled in their careers within 10 years of graduating from OSU.

 

She currently is the Assistant to the Director at the OU School of Visual Arts at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. In her position she provides direct administrative support to the Director and overseas various departmental operations including financial, marketing, website admin, course management, events coordination, and working with other departments across campus. She was previously the Manager of Education and Outreach at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee, OK. She worked with all ages and provided educational art programming through student tours both in person and virtual, art classes and workshops, and providing outreach programs. While at the MGMoA, DuBoise-Shepherd curated the Tkenagen Mnowabmenagwet: The Beauty of Indigenous Cradleboards in 2022, with cradleboards from the Museum of The Red River, and two from her own family. DuBoise-Shepherd is working with more digital art to create illustrative stories and images based on her Native background. She was recently commissioned by the Sierra Club Magazine to create the Fall 2023 cover and two digital illustrative works for an article over the Land Back Movement. She also worked with the previous Dean of the Tulsa University’s Library, Dr. Bob Pickering, to create watercolor images to be utilize in his book, Luck is a Fortune. She currently lives in her hometown of Shawnee, OK with her husband Josh Shepherd.