Laura Ortman

Laura Ortman is an American musician and artist from Whiteriver, Arizona who lives in Brooklyn, New York City.

Early life and education Ortman was born in Whiteriver, Arizona, United States. Ortman was adopted at birth and grew up in Alton, Illinois. Ortman grew up in a musical family. Her mother, Terri Ortman was a pianist who managed a youth orchestra for 20 years. Her sister played the flute and harp, her brother played the french horn. Her grandmother, Mrs. Hummer was a symphony violinist in Des Moines, Iowa Ortman describes her grandmother as influencing her taste in classical music introducing her to musicians such as Sibelius, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Bartok. As a teen, Ortman was a part of the St. Louis Youth Symphony.

She is a White Mountain Apache. In 2001, Ortman reconnected with her birth family in Arizona.

In 1997, Ortman moved to New York City. After moving to New York she began doing improvisational music for modern dancers, soon attracting the attention of the New York Native community. Her practise includes recorded albums, live performances, film and artistic soundtracks. Ortman has collaborated with artists such as Nanobah Becker, Martin Bisi, Raven Chacon, Tony Conrad, Martha Colburn, Jeffery Gibson, Okkyung Lee, Caroline Monnet, and Jock Soto. Stars Like Fleas The Dust Dive The Christian Nightmares Tribulation Band

Jerome Foundation Project Laura Ortman received $20,000 in 2017 from the Jerome Foundation to create of a "collaborative collage" an Indigenous New York City Walking Soundtrack, that fused spoken word, song, din, movement, air, whispers and atmosphere, capturing a changing and personal Native American New York experience. She captured atmospheric recordings using the mobile recording unit she created.

Exhibitions and performances 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art My Soul Remainer, video, 2019 Whitney Biennial Performer in Raven Chacon's "For Zitkála-Šá", 2022 Whitney Biennial From My Home to Yours: Caroline Monnet and Laura Ortman (2022), Montclair Art Museum "Transonic Homes" (2023), The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum Laura Ortman: Wood that Sings (2024), Baltimore Art Museum 60th Venice Biennale (2024)

Awards and grants 2017 Jerome Foundation Fellowship 2016 Art Matters Foundation Grant 2016 National Artist Fellowship Native Arts and Culture Foundation 2015 IAIA's Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Social Engagement Resident 2014–2015 Rauschenberg Foundation Residency FIRST NATIONS COMPOSERS INITIATIVE Common Ground Award Grant