Merritt Johnson exhibits and performs in traditional and non-traditional venues throughout North America. Her work is in numerous private collections in addition to the permanent collections at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art and the Birmingham Museum of Art. Johnson is the daughter of Kanienkehaka (Mohawk), Blackfoot, and North American settlers. She holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art, she has taught for Emily Carr University of Art and Design since 2007.