Colleen Cutschall was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She is a Lakota artist, art historian, educator, writer, activist, and curator from who has lived and worked in Southwestern Manitoba since the 1980s.[2][3] Cutschall studied with painter Oscar Howe in the late 1960s.[4] She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Barat College and a Master of Education from Black Hills State University. Cutschall works in Painting, Sculpture, Photography, and Installation art.[5] Some themes of her work include Lakota mythological archetypes, human relationships to the cosmos, and the implications of exploration.[5] Her work is described as being flexible and situational and incorporating elements of anthropology, feminism, natural sciences, and cultural identity.[3]
In addition to maintaining her studio practice, Colleen Cutschall is Professor Emerita at Brandon University. After over twenty years of teaching at Brandon University in the Department of Native Studies, she founded the Department of Visual and Aboriginal Art.[10]
"Identity By Design: Tradition, Change and Celebration in Native Women's Dresses," March 24, 2007 - August 3, 2008, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.; and September 26, 2008 - February 7, 2010, National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY, at the George Gustav Heye Center.[13][14] Colleen Cutschall also wrote a chapter, Dress, Designers, and the Dance of Life, for a book which accompanied the exhibition.[15]
"….Dies Again!," Urban Shaman, May 27, 2005 - July 2, 2005, Winnipeg, Manitoba.[16]