A citizen of the Catawba Indian Nation, Aaron Baumgardner began studying traditional art in 2022 at the Catawba Cultural Center, learning pottery from master potters and elders. Drawing inspiration from his great-great-grandmother, Sallie Rebecca Brown Beck, he continues the 4,000-year-old tradition of Catawba pottery, a vital part of his people’s identity.
Baumgardner is also the first Catawba in over a century to create a river cane basket, a skill learned from Cherokee artist Gabe Crow. He now teaches these traditions to the next generation and collaborates with land conservancies to steward river cane and culturally important plants.
A 2024 South Carolina Arts Commission Emerging Artist, he is also a 2025 Running Strong for American Indian Youth Dreamstarter and a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation LIFT awardee. Through these projects, Baumgardner teaches basketry, explores sustainable pottery methods, and helps sustain Catawba art as a living, community-rooted practice.