Avis Charley (Spirit Lake Dakota / Diné) is a visual artist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned her BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico (2018), where she is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts (MFA). She is a ledger artist and painter who creates figurative drawings and paintings that chronicle the evolving Native American identity from pre-reservation period to the present day, from ancestral homelands to the contemporary urban context.Ledger art was Charley’s first art form; she learned from and was encouraged by Terrence Guardipee (Blackfeet). Due to colonial policies, Charley’s ancestors were imprisoned far from their homelands. While prisoners, they used colored pencils, crayons, and pages from discarded accounting ledger books to share nostalgic stories of hunting, fighting, and courting scenes. This graphic, narrative style became known as ledger art. Charley became a ledger artist to bring a woman’s perspective into a male-dominated art form; she shares stories of parenting, family, and community. In time, Charley transitioned to oil paintings, centering Indigenous women within modern settings, reflecting resistance, survival, and the vibrancy of her cultural heritage. She creates work for future generations as she documents current stories and experiences. Charley’s work is in the permanent collections of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Museum of Contemporary Native American Art.

Avis Charley (Spirit Lake Dakota / Diné) is a visual artist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She earned her BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico (2018), where she is currently working on her Master of Fine Arts (MFA). She is a ledger artist and painter who creates figurative drawings and paintings that chronicle the evolving Native American identity from pre-reservation period to the present day, from ancestral homelands to the contemporary urban context.Ledger art was Charley’s first art form; she learned from and was encouraged by Terrence Guardipee (Blackfeet). Due to colonial policies, Charley’s ancestors were imprisoned far from their homelands. While prisoners, they used colored pencils, crayons, and pages from discarded accounting ledger books to share nostalgic stories of hunting, fighting, and courting scenes. This graphic, narrative style became known as ledger art. Charley became a ledger artist to bring a woman’s perspective into a male-dominated art form; she shares stories of parenting, family, and community. In time, Charley transitioned to oil paintings, centering Indigenous women within modern settings, reflecting resistance, survival, and the vibrancy of her cultural heritage. She creates work for future generations as she documents current stories and experiences. Charley’s work is in the permanent collections of the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and Museum of Contemporary Native American Art.