Meet the Artist
Hillary Kempenich is a multidisciplinary Anishinaabe artist, cultural advocate, and storyteller who has spent a lifetime using her art to amplify voices, honor community, and create visual pathways to healing. A proud member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Hillary's work is rooted in ancestral knowledge while embracing contemporary expression. Through paint, textiles, design, and public art, she invites viewers into a world where beauty and truth live side by side — resilient, bold, and necessary.
“My work is a living extension of where I come from — not just my homeland, but the people, the laughter, the struggle, and the spirit woven into each piece.” — Hillary Kempenich
Hillary Kempenich is a nationally recognized Anishinaabe artist, cultural advocate, and storyteller whose multidisciplinary work fosters meaningful dialogue around cultural preservation, Indigenous arts, community wellness, and social responsibility. A proud member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, Hillary’s art reflects a deep reverence for her heritage while embracing contemporary forms of expression that speak to both ancestral and future generations.
Her work has been exhibited across the United States, including work archived in the United States Department of Interior Museum, and featured in numerous community-based initiatives, institutional collaborations, and public art commissions. Hillary has partnered with museums, nonprofits, K–12 and higher education institutions, healthcare systems, and government organizations across Turtle Island. Her contributions include artist talks, presentations, creative consulting, and large-scale commissions—all aimed at centering Indigenous perspectives and reimagining shared spaces through a community-rooted lens.
Hillary holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Dakota and is currently continuing her graduate studies in Museum Studies through Harvard University. She actively contributes her leadership and expertise by serving on the Grand Forks Children's Museum board of directors and is completing her final year as Board President of the Grand Forks Foundation for Education and Alumni Network.
In addition to her professional work, Hillary is a cultural educator and mother. These lived experiences shape her approach to modern storytelling through art and advocacy, grounding her art in compassion, empowerment, and resilience. Whether through visual art, literary arts, community engagement, or institutional advising, Hillary remains committed to creating spaces that honor Indigenous voices and nurture collective transformation.
At the heart of Hillary’s practice is a passion for creating connection: between past and present, art and activism, people and place. Her work challenges harmful narratives and replaces them with ones grounded in joy, truth, and respect.
Whether she is creating a painting, a mural, a poem, guiding a museum toward better cultural engagement, or hand crafting jewelry for her Zazegaa Designs line, Hillary approaches every project with care and intention.
Artist Statement
Photo courtesy of Nedahness Rose Greene (Greene Photography)
Photo courtesy of David Cournoyer
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Rooted in Resilience, Rising in Beauty
The world around me is a living archive — a constant source of inspiration guiding my journey as an artist, storyteller, and cultural bearer. I believe in the radical act of preserving cultural traditions while navigating the urgency of innovation in a world that does not slow down. My work is a response to both—an honoring of the past and a forging of the future. As a young child, I was nurtured by the hands and hearts of cultural bearers and community members who shared their knowledge of traditional and contemporary art. These teachings — passed with intention, patience, and love — continue to shape my practice today. Now living away from my home in the Turtle Mountains, I carry this responsibility with reverence. Every brushstroke, every image, every act of creation is a prayer of memory, survival, and reawakening. My work translates observations, memories, and conversations into visual language — experimenting through painting, photography, installation, written word, song, and short film — amidst the quiet, vast, and often isolating landscapes of rural North Dakota. In a non-Indigenous community, I move with intention: sustaining cultural connections for myself, for my children, and for others who navigate similar spaces. I also use this time and space to educate, to empower, and to build bridges between worlds that have long misunderstood each other. In Anishinaabemowin, there is no word for art. Creation is woven into our everyday lives — in how we move, gather, speak, listen, and offer. I am a storyteller, and my art carries stories born from lived experience, generational memory, and historical knowledge. As we continue the work of decolonizing the spaces we occupy, we must also engage in the powerful act of self-actualization. My work blends traditional customs with contemporary expression, grounded in the teachings I’ve received through foraging, gardening, and sustaining myself from the land. In a world often fractured, I believe reconnecting with the earth is one of the most radical and healing forms of resistance. Obstacles have always been part of my path — but they do not define me. They ignite my curiosity. They push me toward growth. Like the plants I nurture each morning, I have learned to thrive even in the most unforgiving conditions. My admiration for the sun, stars, sky, water, and soil — the sacred elements — is a constant in my life and work. These gifts do not belong to any one being, culture, or boundary. They offer common ground, reminding us of our shared responsibility and interconnectedness. As a mother, an artist, and a keeper of memory, I live close to the land while tending to my family and community — a role I carry with gratitude and clarity. The plants I cultivate teach me reciprocity. They remind me that beauty, healing, and resilience can grow even where it’s least expected. Through these connections, I create. I listen. I heal. And I invite others to do the same. My work is a reclamation, a ceremony, and a vision for what is possible when we honor who we are — and who we are becoming. — Hillary Kempenich Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Multidisciplinary Artist, Advocate, and Community member |