NOW SHOWING: Margaret Roach Wheeler

The Oklahoma Center for the Humanities is thrilled to present A Retrospective, a native fashion exhibit designed and hand-crafted by Chickasaw-Choctaw weaver, Margaret Roach Wheeler.

Chickasaw textile designer Margaret Wheeler honors the spirit of her great-great-grandmother, Mahota, and a legacy of creative Chickasaw women. Margaret has become known internationally as a painter, sculptor, educator, Native historian, and award-winning weaver. From her earliest business in handwoven fashions to creative textiles to the field of fine arts, Margaret’s art and work continue today in selling original handwovens and in the national brand of Mahota Textiles, both collaborations with the Chickasaw Nation. It is this legacy of Mahota, Nancy Mahota, grandmother Juel and mother Rubey – centuries of tradition and craftsmanship handed down through generations of Indigenous makers. Through her detailed historical research and creative innovation, Margaret connects the inspiration of our ancestors to all of us in a modern world.

Margaret has also received a research fellowship to study at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York. Her intricate textiles have exhibited works at prestigious institutions, including the Museum of Art and Design and the Museum of Contemporary Native Art (MoCNA), Oklahoma, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, Indiana, and Arizona museums. Alongside her museum exhibitions, her “Street Clothes” weavings have been seen in fashion shows as well.

She has earned numerous awards including Best of Class-Heard Museum Indian Market, First place in SWAIA (Santa Fe Indian Market), and Purchase Award at Eitel Jorg. In 2010, Margaret Roach Wheeler was inducted into the Chickasaw Nation Hall of Fame and was honored by the State of Oklahoma with the Governor’s Arts Award in 2018 for her unique contributions to art.