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CASEY MUNZ
Western Thunderbird Woman
Ojibway
Bay Mills, Michigan
Western Thunderbird Woman
Ojibway
Bay Mills, Michigan
Born in 1976 in Richland Center, Wisconsin, Casey Munz grew up in a household where both her Ojibway mother and German father valued and supported her exploration of American Indian culture. Munz returns regularly to her mother's home on the Bay Mills Reservation to learn from elders. Though she found support within her home for exploring her heritage within contemporary artistic media, she found little guidance or encouragement in public school art classes. While in high school, she formed an activist group called "Nizo" with several other American Indian students. After graduation, she enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. There she studied with guest instructor and well-known photographer Jolene Rickard, among others.
Although her work has been influenced by many people and experiences, Munz wants to use her art to honor those who came before her and to teach others. Her work is rich with Native American cultural symbols, stories, and images. She signs her work with a buffalo skull or an arrow next to her name. Recently, Munz was commissioned to do a pen-and-ink illustration to accompany the words of Chief Seattle. The design she developed features five fingers of a hand, each adorned with unique and intricate symbolic designs.