Lisa LaRue-Baker (Cherokee Nation) is a traditional double-wall basket maker, taught by elders Anna Sixkiller and Thelma Vann Forrest. As a staff member of Cherokee Nation’s Cultural Resource Center and later Director of Language, History and Culture for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, she has taught thousands of children over a 20+ year timespan in cultural arts including baskets, cornhusk dolls, traditional clothing, jewelry, as well as guidance in the Cherokee language and culture.
She was the Director of the Keetoowah tribal museum, and an exhibit designer for the Cherokee Heritage Center. She has her work in both museums, as well as the collection of the Five Civilized Tribes Museum and numerous Federal government and individual collections. Her other media forms include mobiography and digital manipulation, Cherokee twining and other textile arts.
She was raised in Topeka, Kansas by her maternal grandparents, and spent most of her adult life living and working in Cherokee Nation in Northeast Oklahoma. She is currently gallerist and teaching artist at 785 Arts studio and gallery in downtown Topeka (2022 People’s Choice recipient), and a board member of ArtsConnect, a local organization that advocates for and represents artists in Shawnee County, Kansas.