Joe Feddersen

One of the featured artists in Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023

A man with long white hair and a beard sits and works on a straw like material.

Joe Feddersen (Arrow Lakes/Okanagan; born Omak, WA, 1953; resides Omak, WA) grounds his vision in the confluence of twenty-first-century life and traditional Plateau crafts and culture. Through his glass works, twined baskets, and prints, he merges conventional patterns and contemporary iconography to reflect his lived experience of the land. He holds degrees in printmaking from the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Feddersen spent much of his career balancing his art practice with teaching at the Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. After retiring from his full-time teaching position, he returned home to the Colville Confederated Tribal Reservation and now resides and works in his hometown of Omak, Washington. He remains a professor emeritus at the Evergreen State College.  

 

Feddersen’s works can be found in major collections across the country including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Eiteljorg Museum in Indianapolis, Seattle Art Museum, Portland Art Museum, Museum of Glass in Tacoma, and the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. His work is also represented in print, including Mixed Blessings (2000) by Lucy Lippard, Manifestations: New Native Art Criticism (2012) by the Institute of American Indian Arts, Santa Fe, and Changing Hands (2005) by the Museum of Arts and Design, New York. The 2008 monogram, Joe Feddersen: Vital Signs, is part of the Jacob Lawrence book series from the University of Washington Press.  

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Artist in Action: Joe Feddersen

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      Okanagan and Arrow Lakes artist Joe Feddersen discusses his artwork, often merging urban imagery and traditional petroglyphs and patterns from the North Central Plateau Region. He believes his role as a storyteller ties his messages together but encourages open interpretation of his artwork. This video is produced by Mountain Mover Media, in partnership with the Institute of American Indian Arts and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

      Joe Feddersen is one of the featured artists in Sharing Honors and Burdens: Renwick Invitational 2023. The exhibition focuses on fresh and nuanced visions by six Native American or Alaska Native artists who express the honors and burdens that connect people to one another. This is the first time Native Americans and Alaska Native artists have been selected for the Renwick Invitational, dedicated to showcasing emerging and mid-career makers deserving of wider national recognition.