A Deep Conversation With Dr. Jessica Moore Harjo At Positive Space

Jessica Moore Harjo, Ph.D., Weomepe, Otoe-Missouria, Osage, Pawnee, Sac & Fox, is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator based in Oklahoma. Her approach to art and design is unique, post-traditional, and grounded in cultural symbolism. Her pieces display intricate intersections of traditional ribbonwork, florals, appliqué, elements of nature and other harmonious and symmetric forms with atmospheric color palettes.Dr. Harjo has current displays of visual and digital art at the First Americans Museum, Oklahoma City’s Scissortail Park, Tulsa’s Philbrook Museum of Art, Oklahoma City’s Automobile Door Tour Alley, the Tulsa Art Alley, the Osage Nation Museum, and the Osage Nation Casinos. Dr. Harjo’s most prominent artwork is a permanent art installation titled “People of the Great Sky, Constellations of the Land” (2023), a 65’ sculpture that spans the ceiling in the entrance of the Oklahoma State Capitol.Dr. Harjo is the founder and owner of Weomepe Designs, a small business that provides graphic design services and operates as an online design shop with jewelry, wearable art, and other creative design products. Weomepe Designs as a brand has branched out in recent years to include fashion arts. A fresh endeavor, she successfully opened a holiday-pop-up shop with 3 other co-owners, called INDIGICHIC, Native Fashion Arts Collective, LLC., offering exclusive contemporary fashion arts to Tulsa and surrounding communities.Dr. Harjo is actively working on a typeface design for the Osage Nation orthography in addition to serving as a contributing author/designer for an upcoming book with Typotheque. She designed the Osage orthography typeface for the Killers of the Flower Moon “Making of” Book. Dr. Harjo works as a freelance graphic designer and currently serves as a leader in the “Walking in the Footsteps of our Ancestors” Otoe-Missouria reconciliation initiative.Dr. Harjo received her Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Oklahoma State University with a minor in Studio Art, Master of Arts in Design and Doctor of Philosophy in Design from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests are in design and typography as well as intersections of cultural and visual representation affecting social awareness and identity. She is also an advocate for digital art pathways in the fine art world. Dr. Harjo has worked as an Adjunct Faculty and Professor teaching Graphic Design and Visual Arts courses.Some other notable achievements include serving as the 2007 Miss Indian Oklahoma and receiving the 2009 NCAIED’s “40 under 40” leadership award. Dr. Harjo is a member of Alpha Pi Omega, Native women’s sorority, Native Fashion Arts Collective, Oklahoma Federation of Indian Women and currently serves as the Vice President for the Tulsa Indian Club. Jessica continues to explore and take on new opportunities to expand her skill set while practicing in her Tulsa based art studio. Something new, she is featured in the new movie “Killers of the Flower Moon” and was a background extra in “Reservation Dogs”. Website: WEOMEPEDESIGNS.COMInstagram and Facebook: @weomepe