Based in Coldwater, Michigan, Shirley Brauker was dedicated to arts education. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts from Central Michigan University and also attended the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2015, she received an honorary doctoral degree from her alma mater, CMU, where she also delivered the university’s commencement address. For years, she taught language and art at youth camps for Native children in Michigan and has led art-making workshops as far away as Alaska.

Through her own artwork, Brauker continued the Indigenous traditions of ledger art, painting, and ceramics. Her intricately hand-carved pottery features scenes of animals and nature that depict traditional stories. She often included small, handmade books with her pottery, preserving the cultural teachings and stories that inspired each work so that future generations can continue to share them.

Brauker also created ledger art, using discarded accounting ledgers, currency, maps, and other reclaimed papers as the foundation for images that explore contemporary issues and narratives. Her Missing and Murdered series of ceramic pottery and ledger drawings brings attention to the ongoing human rights and public safety crisis across North America, including the disproportionate rates of violence, disappearances, and murders experienced by Indigenous peoples.

Explore more artwork by Shirley Brauker