Cynthia Thomas of Purple Pottery Productions is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation. While at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, she earned a B.A. in Art with a minor in Arts Communications. She later attained her Master of Arts degree in Secondary Education at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. She is currently a high school Art teacher and is an active member of her family and her community. Cynthia integrates her life experiences and extensive education into her artistic creations.

Cynthia took advantage of opportunities to work and learn beside others who she states were teachers and mentors; these people also helped to mold Cynthia into the artisan she is today. She has been described as “well versed in using stoneware clay for sculptural pieces that tell a story.” Cynthia herself states that “I start with a drawing and believe that if I can see it, I can build it.”

Cynthia's Oneida culture and traditions along with her family have always provided her with rich and deep inspiration. Each sculptural piece references an event or a significant person from her life. She was raised following Oneida Longhouse tradition(s) and she incorporates parts of the ceremonies in some of her art. Her sculpted functional pottery depicts Oneida line designs using sgraffito techniques. Her preferred mediums are stoneware clay, underglazes and Potter’s Choice glazes. Cynthia’s words speak to her personal sculpting process, “When I work with clay, I have to let the clay speak to me, and the clay will create the vision.”

Cynthia has won awards in the Ohiyo Art Show and Market 2024, Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival 2023, Woodland Indian Art Show and Market in 2015 and 2021, and Northern Woodland Indian Art Show and Market 2019.

Prices for Cynthia’s artwork can be obtained by contacting the Journey Museum at (605) 394-6923. Purchases after the closing of the exhibition can be directed to the artist at [email protected].