MSP Terminal 1, Gallery C1
April 29, 2026 - April 27, 2027

Beading the Wildflowers of Minnesota by Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe artist Alicia De La Cruz is a celebration of 16 wildflowers that are native to Minnesota and useful to Ojibwe peoples. Through an arts residency at the Bell Museum, Alicia explored plant specimens from the University of Minnesota Herbarium with the goal of creating true to life representations of the flowers that she studied.

Each wildflower is a pin, hand-embroidered with size 11/0 seed beads in a nod to a traditional style of Ojibwe embroidery, and with their own significance to Ojibwe culture. The Burr Oak, for example, dropped acorns that were ground and used for flour to make bread, while the White Pine’s needles were used to make vitamin-rich teas.

With care, Alicia researched and selected these specific flowers and plants that represent an array of Minnesota wildflowers. The pieces are arranged in an evolutionary visualization wherein lower branches of the tree of life are on the bottom, such as White Pine and Ostrich Fern, and more recent plants and flowers are visualized at the top, meaning they are more recently evolved in time.

Website: www.waaboozbeading.com

Artist Bio:
Alicia De La Cruz is an enrolled member of the Mille Lacs band of Ojibwe and a descendant of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. She has been creating beaded art for 25 years and currently lives in Northeast Minneapolis. Alicia specializes in embroidery beadwork inspired by her Ojibwe culture. Alicia’s beadwork has been exhibited at the Minnesota State Fair, The University of Minnesota, the Bell Museum, the Mille Lacs Indian Museum, Twin Cities Pride, and the Mall of America.

Artist Statement:
My work reflects a contemporary native art style and a touch of old-style Ojibwe art with my own twist. I have been beading since the age of seven and was taught this beautiful, traditional art form by my aunts and grandma. Especially important to me in my work is the preservation of my culture, through both language and art.

I mainly enjoy utilizing beadwork, painting, and mixed media in non-traditional ways to showcase my own identity as a native artist and as a woman of the 21st century. My style can best be described as traditional Ojibwe floral style with a modern twist. I enjoy taking themes that are modern and themes from pop culture and turning them into beadwork. I also often pay homage to my ancestors by utilizing traditional floral themes throughout my pieces. It’s important for me to show the craftsmanship and vision I put into each piece from start to end. It is most important to me to innovate myself by pushing myself to try new techniques and create new methods of my own. I strive to be unique in the designs, colors, and style of beadwork that I create. Every day is a day to reflect on my artistic style and originate new concepts. In my eyes, it is the responsibility of each native generation to revive and renew traditional native art forms such as beadwork, and I’m here to do just that.