Cynthia Boehm, a Red-River based beadwork artist and designer, feels most at home when she picks up her needle.

As a child, she was surrounded by creative people such as her father, who sketched numerous drawings, and her mother, who enjoyed to knit, crochet, quilt and sew and taught the young artist to sew at an early age. But it was Cynthia’s love and appreciation for historic Cree-Métis beadwork that compelled her to further explore the arts, in particular the historical art of her home community Norway House, Manitoba. This love and appreciation was only strengthened when Cynthia discovered and reproduced her grandmother’s beadwork, which is housed at the Manitoba Museum. This discovery prompted her to extensively research the historical beadwork and embroidery patterns of her Cree-Métis ancestors, specifically the silk embroidery that were bold and vibrant designs and were produced during the fur trade in the mid to late 19th century. Inspired by the historical “Norway House Style” silk embroidery that rendered colourful graphic flowers and serpentine leaves in shades of red, pink, mauve, blues, greens, gold, and various shades of purple, Cynthia sought to learn about the historical work of her community, namely the art of her ancestral grandmothers, who’s silk embroidery and beadwork became world famous.

Cynthia has since become a well-known and much respected artist. Her works have been recognized in several art competitions, where she received an award at the 2024 Santa Fe Indian Market for her beaded dog blanket, titled “Muskwa’s Blanket”. She was commissioned by the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre in 2020 to produce a “resilience mask”, and in 2019 she was awarded the Barbara Cook Endres First Place Award for her stand-alone floral beaded piece, “My Journey Home — Honouring Our Grandmothers”, which appeared in the competition at the Manitoba Society of Artists Provincial Open Juried Competition. In 2018, Cynthia was given an award for her beadwork at the Interlake Juried Art Show. Both competitions had rarely seen beadwork entered in the past. Her work has been commissioned on a national and international level and she had the opportunity to teach beadwork in Manitoba museums, schools and in Orkney, Scotland.

Cynthia continues to learn and work in the medium of traditional Cree-Métis beadwork and silk embroidery. She facilitates numerous workshops in both beadwork and silk embroidery in the historical Norway House Style. When she is not in the process of creating, Cynthia often visits her home community where she feels grounded and connected to her ancestors and history. Her work is not only reflective of her desire to create beautiful pieces but to honour her grandmother, who’s own work continues as a source of great pride and love.

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