ARTISTS TALK WITH AMBER K. BALL

Saturday, September 12 FROM 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Amber Kay Ball is a theatre maker, visual artist, and community-based advocate. As a contemporary Native multi-practice artist, Amber uses theatre, multimedia, and beadwork as mediums for sharing stories, truths, laughter and joy. These mediums allow them to critically explore, honor, and weave Native pasts, presents, and futures in a just and liberated format. Amber studied theater arts and Native American Studies at the University of Oregon. Amber is an Oregon Community Foundation Fields Artist Fellow, Creative West Artist Fund Fellow, Miller Foundation Spark Awardee, a PICA PDX Precipice Fund Awardee, a recipient of the Indigenous Place Keeping Artist Fellowship through the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and received the Community Mentor Award from Southern Oregon University’s Native American Studies Department.

This artist talk is presented in conjunction with Indigenous Northwest Biennial, on view September 4–October 25, 2026, in the A.N. Bush Gallery. Featuring exhibiting artist Amber K. Ball, the talk offers an opportunity to learn more about her creative practice, the work she has included in the exhibition, and the ideas that shape her artistic approach.

Indigenous Northwest Biennial celebrates the depth and diversity of Indigenous artists from the Pacific Northwest, highlighting both traditional and contemporary practices that carry ancestral knowledge forward while expanding perceptions of Indigenous art through a wide range of mediums and materials.