Rachel Olivia Berg

(Mnicoujou Lakota, Mexican-American, and German- American)

Interdisciplinary Artist, Educator, and Founder of LivArtfully Design Studio.

 

Berg intermixes painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, education, community engagement and science-based inquiry centering Lakota worldviews and ontologies. Her material and conceptual artistic practice explores the ethics of human relationships to land, natural ecological systems, cycles, astrophysics / star knowledge, and the psychology of healing inviting cross-cultural dialogue surrounding the praxis of reciprocal, sustainable ways of being. 

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Early in her career, Berg produced large-scale commissioned works for commercial spaces, collaborating with leading art consultants and design firms. As an art advisor, she curated collections, managed site-specific installations, and supported emerging artists in developing practice and navigation of the professional art world. This work deepened her understanding of how art operates within public and institutional spaces and continues to inform her own approach to creating art that bridges aesthetic, cultural, and relational contexts. In 2023, she formally expanded her studio practice to prioritize projects at the intersection of contemporary Indigenous art, the environment, education, and community-based inquiry. 

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Berg holds a B.A. from Princeton University and an M.A. in Art Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Berg teaches studio art (adjunct) at Marist University and Mount Saint Mary's College.  She was the 2024 recipient of the Empowered Artist Award from Arts Mid-Hudson and the 2023 Emerging Artist Fellow with the Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, NY.She is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and lives in the Moh-He-Con-Nuk (Hudson River) Valley of New York with her husband, son, and four-legged relatives. 

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Her artwork is held in corporate and healthcare collections including Virgin Hotels, Spotify, Kimpton Hotels, Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental Hotels, Jane Street, Cohen Children’s Hospital, and the Oyate Health Center.