Artist-educator Martha Buche calls herself a generalist. From drawing to felting, needlework to woodwork, mosaics to metallurgy, “I rarely meet a medium I don’t want to explore,” she says.
Buche finds a niche, however, in traditional copper bowl-making.
The tradition she draws from is her own Potawatomi ancestry—for centuries, Indigenous communities of the Great Lakes have cultivated rich artistic and toolmaking practices thanks to the region’s natural copper deposits. “We are so blessed in the upper Midwest to have this beautiful vein of Lake Superior copper that is 99% pure,” says Buche. “The Creator gives you what you need.”
With copper so pure, no smelting is required. Beautiful bowls can be hammered out with stones found along the shores of the very same lake.
“I love talking to people about the wonderful Indigenous wisdom of knowing millennia ago that copper is antibacterial and antimicrobial and purifies water,” says Buche. “That’s why it’s used in our water ceremony.”
Buche’s relationship to her Potawatomi heritage grew while working with the military, when she connected with Indigenous soldiers. When she returned from Germany, she took her children to powwows and handmade their dance costumes. From there, her artistry blossomed.
“I have always been an artist, and drawn to natural materials, so I found it a very natural transition,” she says. “I love metal—copper in particular—so when I discovered this traditional bowl-making practice using stone tools, I just fell in love.”
Now, Buche teaches at folk schools like the Driftless Folk School in Viroqua, Wisconsin, where her students range from middle schoolers to retirees. Some are Indigenous; many are not. Some travel from across the United States to make a copper bowl, and she’s since tripled the number of classes she offers. She starts each lesson with a greeting in the Potawatomi language before delving into the history, the process, and metallurgy.
“You have to be in relationship with the copper,” she explains. “You have to make sure you are listening when it speaks to you, that you’re paying attention to the relationship between you and how it’s changing with your interaction.”
She reminds students to be kind to themselves. “Everybody goes through what I call the dark night of the bowl,” she says. “There can be a frustrating part in there because you’re using a new set of muscles and a new kind of tool. But I haven’t lost one yet. I believe everybody can make a bowl, and they do.”
Buche was “flabbergasted” to receive the Midwest Culture Bearers Award. “I have been an artist for fifty years. To be acknowledged as somebody worth taking a look at is amazing,” she says. And although teaching has been a cherished part of her career, she looks forward to dedicating more time to her own artmaking.
“Often working with others inspires one’s own imagination, so it’s been a wonderful blessing,” she says. And, “I’m getting to the point now that I don’t have endless amounts of time. I should probably get to it!”
Martha Buche is a 2024 recipient of the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, which celebrates and financially supports the work of Midwest culture bearers and folk arts practitioners.
The Midwest Culture Bearers Award is supported by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts for project management.