Janet Catherine Berlo

Janet Catherine Berlo is a prominent scholar in Native American art and visual culture, specializing in museum studies, materiality, and Indigenous representation. She has authored and co-authored influential texts such as Native North American Art and Not Native American Art: Fakes, Replicas and Invented Traditions. Her work critiques colonial narratives in museums and explores intersections of art, politics, and identity.

She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on topics like Folk and Outsider Art, Gender and Representation, and Museums and 'the Other'. Her research spans textile exhibitions, Indigenous aesthetics, and contemporary art's relationship with ecology and materiality.

Berlo has held prestigious awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native American Art Studies Association and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has curated exhibitions like Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum and contributed to major museum projects internationally.

Her grants and fellowships include an NEH Fellowship and Mellon Scholar residency. She collaborates extensively, co-authoring works with scholars like Chelsea Herr and Ruth Phillips. Her research bridges historical and contemporary Indigenous art, emphasizing ethical representation and cultural preservation.