Samantha Martinez received her BA in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point where she minored in; Ethnobotany, Anthropology, and Environmental Studies. As an artist and craftsperson, she seeks to express her love for life and human tradition through earthly riches like wood, clay, seeds, and botanical fibers. With the help of NAC grant funding she was able to attend the Craft Education Internship at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN where she studied many forms of basketry as well as wild edible and medicinal plants of the boreal bioregion. She was also able to purchase a handcrafted wooden karatsu kick wheel, several hundred pounds of clay, and a large order of hemp fibers to blend with wild harvested botanical fibers for paper making. She has partnered with the Rhinelander Public Library to create a seed library that launched in May of 2019. In 2019 Martinez accepted a year-long position as a Food Sovereignty Fellow for the Swinomish Tribe in Washington State.
