Mona Cliff

Mona Cliff (born 1977) is a Native American (Aaniiih/Nakota) beadwork artist, muralist, and installation artist based in Lawrence, Kansas. Cliff uses seed beads to create landscapes and sculptural pieces. and one in the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Her work has been exhibited at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri.

Life Cliff grew up in the Pacific Northwest. At age 19, she learned traditional beading from her grandmother, who also gave her the Aaniih name HanukGahNé. She is Frozen Clan (Aaniiih) and Medicine Bear Clan (Nakota).

Cliff moved to Kansas in 2004, where she met her husband, who is Osage, while the two were attending Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence. They have three children, all of whom are enrolled with the Osage Nation.

In Fall 2022, she was an artist in residence at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka. As of 2022, she was working as a DEI Indigenous communities representative for the Kansas Creative Arts Industry Commission.

Cliff was one of 19 artists chosen to create pieces for the Kansas City International Airport terminal, which opened in 2023. In July 2023, one of Cliff's works, "Morning Bird", was acquired for a permanent exhibit at the CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Cliff was picked for the National Museum of Women in the Arts's exhibit "New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024". Her piece in the exhibit, "Past/Presence/Future" (2020), is a beaded gas mask. Cliff was inspired to make the piece after visiting the Cahokia mounds and discovering a landfill near the site. Her work was also influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ideas of indigenous medicine and knowledge. In October 2024, she completed another mural in Lawrence, Kansas.