Mona Cliff (b.1977, Prescott, AZ) (Hanook-gah-neeh/ Spottedcloud) is an enrolled member of the Gros Ventre tribe (A'aninin/Nakota Nations) of Ft. Belknap, MT. Cliff is a multidisciplinary visual artist who explores contemporary Indigenous identity and culture through her use of traditional Native crafting methods such as seed bead embroidery and fabric applique. Beadwork and sewing applique have been a primary foundation of her artistic practice. She acquired a BFA in Printmaking from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. Mona lives with her husband, three teenagers, and two dogs in Lawrence, Kansas.
Cliff is also a muralist and completed multiple mural projects since 2023, five in Lawrence, KS including two at Haskell Indian Nations University and two in Topeka, KS. She is in the permanent collection of the Kansas City Museum (Kansas City, MO), Autry Museum of the American West (Los Angeles, CA), and Mulvane Art Museum (Topeka, KS), and has completed commissions for the Kansas City Airport and the Spencer Museum of Art (Lawrence, KS). She has shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington D.C.), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (Kansas City, MO) Hall Spassov Gallery (Seattle,WA) Swan Coach House gallery (Atlanta, GA), Salina Art Center (Salina, KS), Form&Concept (Santa Fe, NM), Charlotte Street (Kansas City, MO), Beach Museum of Art (Manhattan, KS), Leedy Voulkos Art Center (Kansas City, MO), and Wikimania (Cape Town, South Africa).
She has taught beading and fabric applique workshops at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Snowmass Village, CO) and Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Overland Park, KS). Currently, she has solo exhibits at the University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK), the University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg, MO), and Crossroads Hotel, (Kansas City, MO).
