NMSU Alumni Ger Xiong Receives the St. Paul Emerging Artisit Scholarship from the Craft Council

NMSU Alumni Ger Xiong recieved the St. Paul Emerging Artisit Scholarship from the Craft Council to partcipate in the American Craft Made show. 

He is also receiving support from the American Craft Council to show their work at the American Craft Made marketplace in St. Paul, Minnesota. There, he will join 150 other national and regional artists, who will display everything from elegant wooden chairs to handwoven clothing to metal and stone jewelry from the Minnesota north woods, for buyers and browsers alike.

Ger Xiong is an accomplished jewelry maker and textile artist who uses his craft to tell stories. Recently he has focused his talents on embroidery, which is central to Hmong culture. He applies vibrant stitching to iconically American products, like Coke cans and Starbucks cup sleeves, in effect applying his Hmong identity. “I wanted to learn about our cultural history through embroidery,” he says. “This connects me to my own cultural history and my family history, too. My mom embroiders. I’m using this process, hoping to connect to her.”

Born in Thailand, Xiong came to the US in 1993 with his family, refugees of the Vietnam War. He grew up in Wisconsin and moved to Minnesota a year ago, drawn by the Twin Cities’ vibrant Hmong community and arts culture. He likes to use authentic materials in his work and especially appreciates the HmongTown Marketplace in St. Paul.

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