UT Art Alum Printing to Preserve Cherokee Language
Printmaking faculty drew Tatiana Potts (MFA ’16) to UT, and now she’s working with college students in North Carolina to print books in the Cherokee language.
When Tatiana Potts (MFA ’16) was growing up in Slovakia, she first learned how to draw and paint mostly through books in her local library. Now her bookmaking skills are helping to preserve the Cherokee language in North Carolina.
An assistant professor of printmaking and book arts at Western Carolina University, Potts and her students have been working on a project since 2022 with the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
“My students work closely with adult Cherokee language learners to create hand-printed children’s books that support Cherokee language revitalization,” she explained. “Each semester, students in my Introductory Printmaking course design and screen print imagery based on themes and language provided by Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program participants.”
“The books incorporate the Cherokee syllabary and are hand-bound using the drum leaf binding technique,” Potts said. In fall 2025 her students are working on the eighth volume in the series, tentatively titled Healthy Living Through Fishing.
The university students print and bind 10 copies of each book, giving six to the New Kituwah Academy, an elementary school where children are immersed in the Cherokee language. Potts and WCU retain the additional copies, with one of each going to the university’s Hunter Library Special Collections. In early 2025 some volumes were displayed at UT’s McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture.
UT Printmaking Possibilities
Potts first earned a BA in languages and international trade before returning to school to study art. She intended to focus on drawing and painting, but her first printmaking course opened a new perspective.
“I realized I could apply all my drawing skills to printmaking, create multiple pieces from a single image, and not feel overly precious about each one,” Potts said. “It gave me the freedom to explore imagery in ways I haven’t before with single drawing.”
For graduate school she chose the UT School of Art and its top-ranked printmaking program. “There were three faculty members, each with a distinct set of skills and a unique focus in their artistic practice that I was interested in, particularly Professor Koichi Yamamoto’s work in engraving,” Pott said.
“The printmaking studio at UT is huge and well-equipped, which allowed me to fully immerse myself in learning a wide range of printmaking techniques, including book arts,” she said.
Professors Beauvais Lyons, Althea Murphy Price, and Yamamoto served on her thesis committee. “Each of them offered unique perspectives and suggestions that challenged me to grow artistically,” Potts said.
For her thesis she explored three-dimensional folded pieces made from silkscreen prints and multilayered collages. Professor Avigail Sachs from UT’s School of Architecture also helped Potts consider how her work related to architecture, space, and place, central themes in the thesis.
Her education at UT wasn’t confined to the studio and classrooms on campus, where she studied printmaking, book arts, and pedagogical practices. She learned the values of creating as much as possible, experimenting, and building a professional network early.
Potts taught Saturday workshops in printmaking and book arts for UT’s annual High School Art Academy, as well as for the East Tennessee Art Teacher Conference.
She also assisted with the preparation and organization of the 2015 Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) conference, which UT hosted. “It was an incredible experience to be involved behind the scenes and to contribute to the running of such a major event,” she said.
In addition, she spent a month abroad through UT’s exchange program with the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design in Wrocław, Poland, expanding her artistic perspective and deepening her connection to international printmaking practices. A Herman E. Spivey Humanities Graduate Fellowship supported her research and creative work at UT.
Language and Art
While Potts enjoys teaching and inspiring students, her own artwork continues to evolve as she finds inspiration from travel, discovering different architecture, and learning languages.
“Currently I am working on pieces for an upcoming exhibition that shift my focus from place/space to language,” said Potts, who is multilingual. “While architectural space remains a key element in my work, I am exploring how my native language (Slovak) is evolving under the influence of English, which I refer to as Englishism.”
Potts has a solo exhibition opening April 1 at the University of Montevallo, Alabama, Každé piate slovo (Every fifth word). You can see Potts’s work online at Potts’s personal website.
By Amy Beth Miller