Brenda Kingery is a contemporary artist and champion of women’s empowerment around the world. Born in Oklahoma City, Kingery earned a bachelor’s in fine arts and history from the University of Oklahoma. She attended graduate school at Ryukyus University in Okinawa and completed a master’s in arts from the University of Oklahoma.

Kingery returned to Okinawa, where she taught drawing, painting and Okinawan cultural history for the University of Maryland’s Far East Division. She later settled in San Antonio, Texas, where she taught at San Antonio College. Her artwork has been displayed in many private, corporate and public collections around the world and is part of numerous permanent collections.

Kingery is the founding member of Threads of Blessing International, an organization that teaches textile art and design to women in developing countries to use their Indigenous artistic skills. In 2007, Kingery was appointed by the president of the United States to the board of trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Her efforts to empower women around the world led to her being named the Dynamic Woman of the Year for the Chickasaw Nation in 2017.