Betty DuPree
 

The following biography from The Cherokee Artist Directory, 2001, Cherokee, North Carolina by Barbara Duncan, Freeman Owle, Amy Davis and Tess Thraves, published by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in collaboration with the North Carolina Arts Council and the Cultural Resources Division of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is used with permission from the editors.

Betty DuPree was born and raised in Cherokee and graduated from Cherokee High School.  After she married, she left Cherokee with her husband, who worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs.  They spent many years in New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado.  During those years she worked in arts and crafts galleries and learned about eh crafts, how to price them fairly, and how to work with artists.

When the DuPrees moved back to Cherokee, Betty DuPree applied for the job of manager of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual.  'I went down and got my job, and stayed twenty-four years,' she laughs, remembering that her initial motivation to apply was simply to earn some many for a new stove and refrigerator.  During her years as manager, she helped Qualla Arts and Crafts become the most successful American Indian-owned-and-operated cooperative arts organization in the nation.  Before she left in 1997, Qualla celebrated its 50th anniversary, three hundred members strong.

While representing Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Betty DuPree presented many programs about Cherokee crafts and consulted with groups about marketing strategies for crafts.  She has consulted with American Indians from Oklahoma, with the Seneca Nation, and with four tribes in Maine to establish successful marketing practices for crafts.  She has worked with the Indian Arts and Crafts Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C.  Her numerous talks and presentations include engagements at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) in Cullowhee, North Carolina.  She has successfully nominated a number of Cherokee artists for the North Carolina Folk Heritage Award.

The amount of her fee is negotiable,  but must include compensation for travel expenses."

Betty DuPree
PO Box 543
Cherokee, NC 28719
(828)497-6604

Sources:
[Used with permission] The Cherokee artist directory 2001. Research and writing, Barbara Duncan ... [et al.] ; editing Barbara Duncan, Beverly Patterson. Cherokee, N.C. : Museum of the Cherokee Indian in collaboration with the North Carolina Arts Council and the Cultural Resources Division of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, [2001]