Osage Nation Registered Artists
NANETTE KELLEY
Description of Art
Mentors such as Chinese artist Hung Liu (social realism), Lucienne Bloch and Stephen Pope Dimitroff (Diego Rivera’s fresco paint mixer and wall plaster engineer), and watercolorist Robert Benson (Tsnungwe Tribe), although ethnically and politically diverse, gave Nanette Kelley an appreciation for works of art as language, and not mere aesthetics. With a focus on social systems, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), and art curriculum development for schools, Nanette focuses on regional themed and community-based social practice art. She interprets the natural environment including representational wildlife and cultural themed painting with the use of wax and water-based, non-toxic multimedia works on paper, leather crafts, woodworking design, and stained glass.
Artist Biography
A lifelong traveler on the roads in-between, Nanette Kelley divides her time between her Osage and Cherokee homelands in Oklahoma and unceded Wiyot territory on the Redwood Coast. As she says, “My family never stopped migrating.” She is a first daughter of the Wahzhazhe Nikashe (Osage Nation), Eagle Clan, and has dual Osage and Cherokee enrollment. Both a professional artist and a journalist, she comes from generations of hidecrafters and metalsmiths. To ensure access to regional culture, language, and traditional arts in education, Nanette builds cultural bridges among peoples and organizations and hosts cultural art events in both CA and OK: Nanette is the 2021 California Arts Council Administrators of Color Fellow for the north state region. A professional member of the Native American Journalists Association (NAJA), she is a contributing writer to various Indigenous publications including First American Art Magazine. Her media is primary research, both traditional and western materials, and the natural environment. Her method is historical interpretation through a Traditional Ecological Knowledge lens. With an appreciation for works of art as language and not mere aesthetics. She believes art and the environment are catalysts for underrepresented peoples to tell their own cultural histories. A first-generation college student, she earned a B.A. in Art from Humboldt State University, CA, a B.A. in Corporate Communications from Rogers State University, OK, and has a 2022 completion date for her M.A. in Indigenous Education & Policy through Arizona State University, School of Social Transformation with emphasis in regional art, cultural, and natural history community-based curriculum.
MATT JARVIS
Description of Art
Painting, Photography, Graphic Design, Graphic Novels, Commercial, Portraiture, Journalism / Documentary, Fine Art, Media Art
Artist Biography
I started out drawing when my parents gave me a Star Wars "design" book for Christmas back in 1977. My grandparents gave me a pastel chalk set for my birthday in 1979 and this introduced color into my artistic toolbox. In high school I was introduced to acrylic and oil paints plus pen and ink drawings (had a pen and ink drawing in an Oregon State University Land Grant University calendar and had my paintings exhibited for the first time). When I went off to college my parents told me not to take any art courses but to study something that would become a career. I took one water color painting course and kept painting on the side but my studies were something else completely. I ended up dropping out of college one quarter away from my bachelor's degree because when traveling I took some photographs I thought I would use to paint from but they ended up getting sold to a magazine in late 1990. Thus began my career as a commercial / editorial photographer. At one point I went back to school and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography from the University of Washington (1996). Later, I would earn my Master of Fine Arts in Media Arts from the University of Oklahoma (2003). Like I said, I went into commercial / editorial photography (learning photography as I had assignments, real on the job training using what I was reading in library books to do professional assignments). I would later get a Fine Arts education and also work as professional photojournalist (images were work-for-hire) and commercial graphic designer. I produced one graphic novel in 2012 that sold about half of the copies printed, but have been inspired this last semester (Spring 2021) to create the sequel. Yes, I teach art at Bacone College half-time.
JOE DON BRAVE
Description of Art
Description of Art: Joe Don Brave, Osage/Cherokee, nationally known artist, celebrated for his use of color and texture as he paints images of Native and Prairie life. “My artwork revolves around my heritage, emotions, environment and expressions that I have picked up through my adventures along the road, and while listening to the elders tell the stories of their experiences. I am a citizen of the world, as such, seek to define my identity and place within in this world, via art.”
Artist Biography
I was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1965 and soon after, my father (a successful artist and graphic designer and a major influence on my art,) nicknamed me Joe Don, after Oklahoma football legend Joe Don Looney. At age 9, my parents relocated our family to Osage County, Oklahoma, home to my Osage people, where I remained until I left for college. I grew up, immersed within the traditions and customs of the Osages and for 40 years, actively participate in our annual traditional ceremonial dances. I studied art at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I learned the fundamentals of art and museum studies. I began my career as a Museum Technician, at the Osage Nation Museum, in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in the early 1980’s and continued at the National Museum of the American Indian; Smithsonian Institute in New York City, where I was an integral member of the move team, moving the collection from Harlem to the Bronx and then to Maryland. My artwork revolves around my heritage, emotions, environment and expressions that I have picked up through my adventures along the road, and while listening to the elders tell the stories of their experiences. I am the son of the Osage, part of its history and a product of its many changes, endured over time. I am a citizen of the world, as such, seek to define my identity and place within these two worlds, which are but one.
CHELSEA T. HICKS - 𐓸𐓶𐓟𐓰𐓫͘ / LookingtoEagle
Description of Art
Hicks multi-genre writing work includes short stories, poems, essays, and novels as well as traditional Wahzhazhe crafting to keep her grounded. Ancestral stories and veneration are recurrent themes in her writing, as well as generational trauma and the methods by which generations heal and also fail to heal. She has also lead the band Museums in San Francisco, and studies traditional Wazhazhe craft practices such as shawl-making and moccasin-making as a method of grounding and support for her writing work. Her first book is a collection of short stories incorporating poems in Wahzhazhe ie, forthcoming in 2022 from Unnamed Press in Los Angeles. Hicks’ writing has also been published in McSweeney’s, Indian Country Today, Yellow Medicine Review, the Rumpus, the Believer, the LA Review of Books, the Paris Review, and elsewhere.
Artist Biography
Hicks is a writer living in the Bay Area in California after she earned an MA at UC Davis and an MFA at the Institute of American Indian Arts in creative writing. She began studying Wazhazhe ie for her iko, or “grandmother,” and will return to Oklahoma as a Tulsa Artist Fellow in 2022, to offer creative writing workshops for writers using indigenous languages. Hicks studies Wazhazhe ie with mentors of her tribal district, Waxakaoli^, and has worked at the Osage Nation’s language-focused school Daposka Ahnkodapi. She belongs to the Tsizho Washtake, through her father Brian Hicks, and in Wazhazhe ie she is Xhuedoi^ or “Looking to the Eagle.” Centering language study in her writing has allowed her to address trends of healing and cultural revitalization for modern day Natives in her writing. She was raised in Suffolk, Virginia and during the summers in Bartlesville, Oklahoma with her iko.
MEGHAN KATHLEEN NORTON - Prairie Tale
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Description of Art
Fine photographic art: studies of ordinary, forgotten, ancient, broken objects have become muses for the artist. Rusty car parts, under-appreciated neon signs from businesses long closed, and aged, stone buildings fill Meghan's viewfinder. On occasion, she takes a portrait commission.
Artist Biography
Meghan developed her artistic abilities as a child in Pawhuska and Bartlesville. Her father, Gary Jack Willis, was a journalist expected to shoot his own photographs, and it was him that opened the door for her. The artist is a classically trained portrait photographer with over 25 years of experience both in studio and out. Now, fine art photography occupies her heart. Capturing the ordinary to find the extraordinary is Meghan's passion.
JARICA WALSH
Description of Art
I make art that strives to provide healing and progress, and that examines our relationship with ourselves, our planet, and our universe. My sculptural ceramic artwork intends to strike a balance of strength and vulnerability. The Star Series reflects a connection to cosmic bodies. Inspired by a night sky and the notion that we are all made of star stuff, but beyond that, this work honors my Wahzhazhe ancestors and our origin in the stars. Each individual piece is meant to connect with the whole body of work and yet is unique in its improvised pattern. These vessels are infused with positivity and blessings to be shared with those that hold them, functioning as talismans. I believe that these objects hold meaning, transfer energy, and heal. The botanical works are a way to honor the beauty and importance of the plants and to create a timeless representation. I create photogram prints of my ceramic works as well as plant life, using the cyanotype process. This photographic process creates an outlined positive image of the work placed on the paper. The erasure of details, aside from outlines, allows for focus on the print of the ceramic piece and its unique pattern. The midnight blue background further reinforces the connection to the night sky. I am incorporating storytelling, recording both personal and global experiences, in the prints by means of careful composition and handwritten graphite additions to the backs of the works. The prints of my ceramic artworks capture a fleeting moment of the sun meeting the earth, honoring the sun that powers us and transforming the ceramic sculpture into another form, extending the life and impact of the piece. It presents an opportunity to collaborate with nature, and to experiment with pushing the ceramic artwork in a new direction as the subject of the print. The botanical materials collected for printing are shed naturally or gathered in routine pruning, striving to respect the important relationship of plants and humans to care for one another. I work to bring quiet introspection and vulnerability to my creative process, demonstrated in the meditative carving of patterns into the clay, the careful collection of botanicals, and the addition of handwritten thoughts. It is done with the intention of reflecting the contemplation and openness into the artwork and installations, inviting the same of the viewer with the goal of finding common ground and healing.
Artist Biography
Jarica Walsh is a graduate of The University of Oklahoma, receiving her BFA in Media Arts with an emphasis in Filmmaking. She is a multidisciplinary artist, motivated by the core principles of optimism, appreciation, and inclusion. Walsh is the Director of Art in Public Places for the Oklahoma Arts Council. She was born in Pawhuska of Osage and mixed European heritage. She lives and works in Oklahoma City, maintaining a studio in the Paseo Arts District.
DUANE BIGEAGLE
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Description of Art
1) "Grandpa's Meeting House" oil on canvas, 20"x24", painting of my grandfather's Native American Church meeting house, Bug Creek, Greyhorse, Oklahoma. 2). "Walking to Gangtey Gompa, Bhutan" oil on canvas, 24"x30". From my series: "Postcards for the Osage" paintings from my travels for my Osage relatives in Oklahoma. This painting is of a monastery in the small country of Bhutan in the Himalayas. A gallery of recent artwork is available here: http://duane-bigeagle.pixels.com and creative writing is available here: www.duanebigeagle.com.
Artist Biography
I am Hominy District Osage, born in Claremore, OK, in 1946. I have a B.A. Degree from the University of California at Berkeley and have been painting, writing, and publishing poetry since the early 1970s. I have also taught creative writing to young people with the California Poets In The Schools Program since 1976 and am a past President of the Board of Directors of that organization. I was awarded three California Arts Council Artist in Residence grants in the late 1980s and have received several awards for my poetry, including the W.A. Gerbode Poetry Award in 1993. I have also served on various local, state, and national grant and policy review panels for many agencies, including the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. I have been a college teacher since 1989 and a Lecturer in Native American Studies at San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University, and presently at College of Marin. I am a founding Board Member of the Northern California Osage and the American Indian Public Charter School in Oakland, CA. I am also a traditional American Indian singer and Osage Ilonschka Southern Straight Dancer. An extended biography is published in: Here First: Autobiographical Essays by Native American Writers, ed. by A. Krupat & B. Swann, Modern Library, New York, 2000.
Personal Statement
As an American Indian youth, I learned to value a connection with the land that sustains our lives. I learned early that individuality, creativity, self-expression, and love of beauty are essential to the survival of a whole and healthy person. I have experienced the roles that art and poetry play in the passing of culture from one generation to the next. These lessons and values have formed the person I have become -- poet, painter, teacher, traditional singer and dancer, artist in education, community organizer, and cultural activist.
GAYLE DOWELL
Description of Art
Artisan jewelry textured with the plants of the prairie in fine silver, sterling silver, and 22k gold.
Artist Biography
My passion for nature was influenced first by my Osage grandmother, Lily Peace Patterson. When I moved to the ancestral lands of the Osage in Kansas, I found a deeper connection with the plants of the tallgrass prairie. With only 4% of our tallgrass prairie remaining, I set out to save our prairies by highlighting in my art the biodiversity that the prairie provides. I create molds of these plants and create my unique pieces in fine silver, sterling silver, and 22k gold. It's my way of taking something that is vanishing and giving it a glimpse of eternity by creating its likeness in metal. I've become an advocate for planting native plants to help our pollinators thrive. We are all connected as creation and we need to be caretakers of our natural resources. This is my small way as an artist to help bring attention to our beloved lands.
JAKE WALLER II - Opan Tonka
Description of Art
The Big Drum- Is the first piece of artwork I created after the loss of my father, Meen-kon-shee (spot on elks neck), Jake Waller. The picture represents the first place you go on the other side after you die. The Big Drum is the first place that you meet with your ancestors to sing the ancient songs of our Osage people. This painting represents the first song my father sang with his Osage Ancestors. Connected-This picture represents an artistic expression of photography from the many years of life my wife and I spent on the prairie working with a bison herd. The connection between the land, bison, and our relationship with the herd.
Artist Biography
Born into the Wah-Tian-Kah band of Blackdog Osages from the Zon-Zo-Li Village and the Opan (Elk Clan). I grew up in the Osage ways and teachings of my Father, Uncle and Osage Elders. I was named into the Big Moon East Moon Native American Church within my first year of life. I was inducted into the E-Lon-Ska society at three and a half years old where I have participated for the last 34 years as much as my travels all over in life have allowed me. I create art and express myself artistically for my wife, children, family and Osage decendants. These things are one way that I work to be a part of an eternal line of decendants, the Original Osage Prayer.
LOU W. BROCK
Description of Art
Wahzhazhe: An Osage Ballet - Composer ("Royalty of the Plains," "Pawhuska Oil," and "Reign of Terror") The Osage Timeline - 1st ed. (2013) and 2nd ed. (2014) including short synopsis of Osage historical facts. (out of print)
Artist Biography
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Lou Brock (Osage/Omaha) has lived in many locations including Lake Charles, Louisiana, Dacca, East Pakistan, Stillwater, Ralston, Oklahoma City and currently residing in Pawnee. He retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company/SBC Communications, Inc. with 30 years’ service and has worked with the Osage Nation for 16 years, now currently works part-time as a Sergeant-at-Arms for the Osage Nation Congress in Pawhuska and as Town Clerk/Treasurer for the Town of Ralston. Mr. Brock has been playing piano, organ and keyboard for over 60 years. First trained in his first hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana, at the age of four, with Virginia Fontana-Raftery, using his late grandmother's Cable upright piano for practicing, which he still practices on, and then finishing up his musical education and association with the late Loretta Hale Lantz-Porter of Pawnee. He has played at weddings, funerals, and raised money for the Fairfax Senior Citizens group back in the mid-1980's, as well as fundraising for Stage Right Productions beginning in 2017. He and his wife have awarded several year-long scholarships to the late Mrs. Porter’s chosen top students. In 2009, Lou wrote a score of music for a new exhibit (“We Walk in Two Worlds”) at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock, which became the inspiration for a ballet, which premiered in 2012, entitled, “Wahzhazhe: An Osage Ballet”, giving the audience a look at the Osage history through the art of ballet dance. Along with Dr. Joseph Rivers of the University of Tulsa, and Scott George on traditional songs, he composed three important parts of the music, and Dr. Rivers arranged the entire set. The ballet company performed at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. in March, 2013. As well as several cities in Oklahoma (2013), Santa Fe, New Mexico (2016), Rolla, Missouri (2017). The opening scene of the ballet was chosen for the Papal Visit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2015, as the only American Indian Tribe to do this for him. He is also credited as the author of "The Osage Timeline" (1st ed. 2013 and 2nd ed. 2014) and is currently working on a 3rd edition. He also is looking to publish a book that his late father, Wheeler Eagle Brock, a former Osage Tribal Councilman, had written of short stories, some of which included some amazing Osage history.
Under the guidance of his mentor and former director of the Osage Tribal Museum, he is listed as a reference on numerous books, including: • 2007 – “Bootheel Man,” Swingle, Morley • 2010 – “The Osage Indian Reign of Terror: The Violence of Bill Hale 1921-1923,” Underhill, Lonnie • 2012 – “The Red Land to the South: American Indian Writers and Indigenous Mexico,” Cox, James Howard • 2015 – “Osage and Settler: Reconstructing Shared History through an Oklahoma Family Archive,” Berry-Hess, Janet • 2017 – “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Grann, David • 2017 – “John Joseph Mathews: Life of an Osage Writer,” Snyder, Michael • 2019 – “Wedding Clothes and the Osage Community: A Giving Heritage,” Swan, Daniel C. and Cooley, Jim Lou is currently the principal organist for Sunday Morning Mass at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Pawhuska, as well as principal pianist and organist at the First Baptist Church in Fairfax, and has served as a pianist and organist for Ralston First Baptist Church (1971-75, 2000-11, 2014-17), and the Osage Indian Baptist Church in Pawhuska (2011-14). He gave a 90-minute concert on the pipe organ and grand piano at the First Osage Baptist Church in Fairfax on April 30, 2017, where over a hundred people attended. There, he performed, live, his composition from the Osage Ballet, entitled “Reign of Terror” which received a standing ovation from the audience. On October 22, 2017, he set a record for himself by playing at three different churches (Immaculate Conception Catholic in Pawhuska, First Osage Baptist in Fairfax and Osage Indian Baptist Church in Pawhuska) on the same day. December 24-25, 2017, he performed five different services (three at ICCC and two at First Osage Baptist), including a Midnight Mass and a Monday Mass service. Mr. Brock is a cheerleader and philanthropist with Stage Right Productions, LLC, located at Pawnee High School, where he accompanies youngsters on piano of all ages in their singing talents on and off stage, and performs background music for the Skiatook Art Center’s art exhibitions. Lou met and married his wife, Rosalie, in 1979, and have two wonderful schnauzer fur babies.
BRAD PULLEN
Description of Art
The first piece is mixed media on glass. I used spray paint, paint markers, and permanent markers. I also used an exacto blade to carve the fine details. I really enjoyed using a lot of bright colors on this piece. The second piece is a commission for my friends barbershop. Royalty Barbershop. I used permanent marker and paint markers.
Artist Biography
I'm a lover of all things art. I try to be well rounded with my disciplines. I find myself bouncing around from one medium to the next. The is why I go by "Menace Mediums". I do graffiti work, lettering, logos, realism, abstract, wood burning, screen printing, block printing, etc. and I have plenty more photos of my work I can share as well. Thank you
CHRIS SHIELDS
Description of Art
Photography and digital image manipulation.
Artist Biography
I was born and raised in Hominy OK. Now residing in Missouri. I started shooting on film before the digital revolution in photography. I enjoy shooting natural landscapes but will and often do shoot anything that catches my eye or that I have an idea for.
ELISE BOULANGER
Description of Art
Paintings by Elise Boulanger using acrylic and found materials titled "Inheritable Scraps" and "Plains". Works are from the exhibit titled "Throughline: Student Works Inspired by the Center's Collections" that she curated at the Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College in Spring 2021.
Artist Biography
Elise Boulanger is an Osage multidisciplinary artist, collaborator, and curator currently engaged in the arts community in Durango, CO. She holds a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Studio Art with minors in Art History and Anthropology from Fort Lewis College. Boulanger is an active facilitator of projects for Indigenous students to explore issues of identity, culture, and social justice through art.
NOAH KEMOHAH
Description of Art
I use bones, earth, and reclaimed fences from the Osage Reservation to represent our history, sovereignty, and property rights.
Artist Biography
My family is mostly from the Hominy area. My great, great grandfather - Kemohah - my great, great, grandmother - Lo-tah-sah - and my great grandfather - Thomas Kemohah - were original allottees. My Grandmother - Geraldean Kemohah - and her twin sister - Jean Kemohah - used to tell me that their grandmother - Lo-tah-sah - lived in a tepee her entire life and never donned an item of Western clothing. We have remained stewards of our land since the 1906 Allotment. My Osage grandparents and my Potawatomi great grandmother, who helped to raise me, were greatly affected by the boarding schools and Western pressures to assimilate. I have an art degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. I expect to have my juris doctorate from the University of Tulsa, with an emphasis on Federal Indian Law, in 2023. My studies in law and my contemporary Indian sculptures have overlapping themes. I use bones, earth, and reclaimed fences from the Osage Reservation to represent our history, sovereignty, and property rights. The idea of fencing off property is a basic element of European conquest. The Osage Nation has historically opposed assimilation and the agrarian lifestyle. The Osage Reservation was chosen for it's rocky, oil-filled soil, because it is difficult to farm. We are a warrior tribe that has chosen our destiny through the control of our resources and conquest of industry. As an attorney, I hope to help the Osage Nation continue to diversify our influence in various industries (such as banking) and protect the Mineral Estate. As an Artist, I hope to represent the strength of our people in my artistic expressions.
DANTE BISS-GRAYSON
Description of Art
Image 1: Oil on Canvas, 2021 - Riding Towards Freedom
Image 2: Osage Orthography Scarf
Artist Biography
Dante Biss-Grayson, Osage Artist and Fashion Designer Sky-Eagle C0llection. I explore new directions in Native American art, and utilize classical methods to explore a modern, and a new contemporary vision of Native Art. I strive to create new artwork that continues to the tradition of Contemporary Native Art, and pushes the boundaries of varying mediums, such as painting, holographic sculpture, poetry, and Fashion Design. I paint, sculpt, write, and design; I try to find the best platform to express and convey a thought and emotion. As a combat veteran with PTSD, I had to find myself again as an artist when I came back from overseas. I spent over 12 years in war zones, and before I deployed, I had studied art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Holland and IAIA, in Santa Fe, N.M. As the apprentice of Earl Biss, my adopted father, was able to delve even further into classical art. Upon return to the States, I started my studio again with the hopes to express the trauma of war, and find a platform to continually express myself, externalize the trauma, and eventually, hopefully help others. As a Fashion Designer, I have always wanted to explore this platform. For me, clothes can empower a person to feel better about themselves. Fashion Design can be a symbol of empowerment, or it can be utilitarian in use, and it can bring awareness to vital issues in Indian Country. For my daily work, my goal was to work for Native Communities. I earned my Masters Degree in Emergency Management and have been able to work with tribes on capability building and community resilience capabilities development.
LOCATIONS: Online: www.skyeaglecollection.com. In-Person: Sky-Eagle Collection Fashion House and Fine Art Gallery, 131 Paseo Del Pueblo Norte, Taos, NM, 87529
BRANDS: Owner and Creative Director of the Sky-Eagle Collection, Online and New Shop Open in Taos, NM. Sky-Eagle Fashion House and Fine Art In Development: Wow-Pow Clothing, El Prado Collection, Scout (Cold Weather Gear)
QUALIFICATIONS: Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Holland IAIA, Santa Fe, NM Jacksonville State University, Master of Science, EM PROJECTS: 2022 Donation to the Osage Ballet 2022 Currents New Media- Santa Fe NM, Selected Artist 2022 Sky-Eagle Fashion Scholarship (launching in Dec-22) 2022 Santa Fe Film Festival: Baawadan Collective Short Film: R.E.M. Burn 2021 8GEN Warrior's Wool Blanket Design Contest-Winner 2021 Osage Nation Museum Winter Exhibition: Artist and Panelist 2021 Donated a Ribbon Skirt to the Osage Ballet 2021 IAIA Fall 2021 Creative Writing Contest-Winner 2021 Podcasts: Okie Podcast, Native Health AZ, and CafeAye 2021 Colores, NM PBS Spotlight- Artist focus on Veterans and Therapy 2021 Truth or Consequences Film Fest. Associate Producer “Earl Biss Movie” 2021 Exhibition at the Institute of American Indian Studies MMIW Awareness & Action 2021 Exhibition 5 Points Visual Arts Center-MMIW Awareness & Action 2021 Artist on “Killers of the Flower Moon” movie, Directed by M. Scorsese 2021 Baawadan Collective Short Film: R.E.M. Burn 2021 Lily Poetry- Artist 2021 Native Talk Arizona-Interview 2021 Native Oklahoma Magazine-Article 2021 Santa Fe New Mexican Newspaper-Article 2021 Sovereign Santa Fe Art Show 2021 New Mexico Arts, Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Poster Artist 2021 “Earl Biss, the Spirit Who Walks Among His People” Associate Producer 2021 “A Smudge for Your Thoughts,” podcast 2021 “The Powerful Image of the Red Hand,” Indian Country Today 2021 “The Powerful Image of the Red Hand,” APTN National News 2021 Featured Artist, Osage Nation Museum 2021 National Congress of the American Indian, Grant Recipient, funds donated towards the “400 Ribbon Skirt Project” 2021 Iceland Arctic Cooperation Network, GEA Youth Engagement 2020 “Spirit Journey” 3d Holographic Sculpture, Grant Recipient x2, Osage Nation Foundation 2020 New Mexico Museum of Art, “Protection” Artist 2020 Museum of New Mexico Foundation - Native Treasures Auction, Artist Participated in the 2020 “Resiliency Lodge-Ribbon Skirt Expose’,” an initiative of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), Designer 2020 Osage Nation Museum, “Art From Our Community”2019 Agora Gallery, Chelsea, NY, “In and Out of the Garden” Artist 2020 Beyond Words Literary Magazine, Artist 2019-Current “The Owl,” and Osage Comic, Editor, Blue Turtle Comics 2019 “Gallery Experience” Canuka Ota, Big Rain Gallery, Pawhuksa, O.K. 2019 Artfix Daily, “The War Within” 2019 “Voices From the Drum” Artist 2018 First American Art Magazine (FAAM), “Dante Biss-Grayson- War Experience”
JOSEPHINE H. HORSECHIEF - Jojo
Description of Art
Photographs taken of me modeling for two different shows and two different Indigenous designers. One on the left is Rapid City, SD. Fashion Designer @ginastillsmoking One on the right Billings, MN. Fashion Designer @rebekahjarvey
Artist Biography
My art is expressed in many different ways other than painting and drawing. Growing up I entered the entertainment industry at the young age of 17 by modeling first. After graduating high school, I went to college at The Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM majoring in Cinematic Arts where I started acting too. In the last 10 years I've been in and out of the industry, mostly because of family and personal things but after Covid I got inspired to try it again. I'm not as young or small as I use to be when I started in the last year, 2022, I've been in 10 fashion show, background acting for two TV series, 1 commercial and 2 movies. I took my videography to the next level as well and built a small social media following with my Tikktok account. I have really enjoyed "#nativetiktok". Through my following I've made videos talking about Indigenous issues, food, and entertainment through humor online. Next thing on my list is I've started a comedy journey by doing Standup now. My first official show was New Year's Eve (2022) in Gallup, NM. The Navajo land treated me well and I plan to come back for another set. I'm not a big painter or designer, but I am an entertainer. It is a hard journey, nothing is cheap, but I've enjoyed connecting with as many talented Indigenous artist as well and building my resume as much as I can. I am an artist in my own way.
Rebel Soul Angel Muse
Description of Art
Vulture Spirit Skull, with Digital AI Assist. & Sacred Geometry in Nature of Tree Roots captured with Digital Camera, then edited for Video. This is a screenshot from my video creation of Shadows & Light in Nature during Winter of 2022.
Artist Biography
Hello, I am of Osage & Kaw Roots. Most of my Artistic Work is within Photography in Magazine & Social Media format. I have recently switched over to learning Video Creations for & Inspired by my favorite Music.
Harleigh Moore
Description of Art
A variety of Native American beadwork. Custom orders of beaded western belts, custom jewelry such as earrings and bracelets, keychains, and dog collars.
Artist Biography
Harleigh Moore-Wilson creates beadwork and other traditional items. Harleigh is Osage and grew up on the Osage Nation Reservation. She has a B.A. Degree from Oklahoma State University in Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration from Oklahoma Baptist University. In her day job, she works for the Osage Nation as the Food Sovereignty Coordinator. Harleigh was awarded the Robert E. Stewart Engineering Humanities award in 2020. This award recognizes an outstanding student nationally for their contributions to the advancement of the interaction of the profession and the humanities, including the arts, foreign languages, English, history linguistics, music, philosophy, religion, or theater.
Harleigh has been beading since 2009. She has taught beadwork to young people with the Woodland Public School System. She is a traditional Osage Ilonschka Dancer. For Harleigh, her beadwork is a way to feel connected to her Wah-Zha-Zhi heritage. Her beadwork ranges from traditional items such as moccasins to western belts and everything in between. She learned at an early age that individuality, creativity, and self-expression are essential to love yourself. She hopes to pass her artistic passions to the next generation so that our traditional beadwork does not get forgotten.
Allyson Stumpf
Description of Art
As a media mixed artist, I am fluent in watercolor, pen and high fired ceramics. My ceramics during my time at the university of Oklahoma has been produced using a wood kiln. I am now investigating using alternatives as the wood kiln is not as accessible. My art is inspired by my deep love, admiration and respect for animals. I also continually explore and produce work that tells my personal story of being an indigenous American.
Artist Biography
Allyson Stumpf is a member of the Wahzhazhe nation and has spent a majority of her life residing in Northeastern Oklahoma. Currently she is practicing ceramics in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As an OU bachelors of fine arts recipient, she is experienced in the mediums of drawing and ceramics. Her work consists of a love for animals and the ongoing journey of self discovery. The nature of her work is inspired by her personal experience as an indigenous American.
Owen Hutcheson
Description of Art
All works of photography from portraits to animals to sunsets. All available for digital or print purchasing. Or schedule your photoshoot with me!
Artist Biography
My name is Owen Hutcheson/𐒼𐓘𐓡𐓣𐓤𐓘 𐓓𐓣͘ (TallChief). I am a freelance photographer located in Fairfax, Osage County, OK where I have lived all 20 years of my life. Although I’m still young, I have been doing photography for almost 6 years at The Fairfax Chief Newspaper and have grown so much taking pictures of high school sports, powwows, rodeos, families, and more.
Victoria Brady
Description of Art
Handcarved leather of different animal hides.
Artist Biography
I have been illustrating and painting since I could hold a pencil. In my late 20's I was inspired by master artists to start carving imagery in leather. It has since become my favorite medium of choice. I love to make purses and bags. I try to use different animal hides to honor all the species of animals.
Tristan Joseph Espinoza
Description of Art
Featured above is an excerpt from Espinoza's column, 100% Osage, on the cover of Osage News. The column details how Espinoza uncovers the layers of his heritage as someone who did not grow up near his tribe in Oklahoma.
Artist Biography
Tristan Joseph Espinoza is a writer and proud Osage Native from outside Dallas, Texas. While pursuing his undergraduate degree at Columbia University, Espinoza is also currently studying abroad at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the creative director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Initiative, a youth-led organization that works to combat the stereotypes and stigmatism that plague Indigenous communities. His work has appeared in Osage News, The Plentitudes Literary Journal, Solange Knowles’ BlackPlanet, and others. In his spare time, Espinoza likes to watch Survivor reruns and post film photos of his loved ones on Instagram @thetristane.
Otto C Hamilton
Description of Art
Strike Ax dance troupe performs Native American presentations on Song and dance. We have performed for Aspen School District, Amazon, Meta, OneOK, University of Oklahoma, Red Earth Arts Festival.
Artist Biography
Otto Hamilton is the contact for Strike Ax Dance troupe. Otto has traveled and danced across the United States. We as a dance troupe, strive to educate and share our culture to provide a unique experience for everyone involved. We have always been asked back to perform and hold ourselves in a professional manner.
M. Julian Isaacson
Description of Art
Hand carved marble and hardwood images utilizing hammer and chisel
Artist Biography
M. Julian Isaacson is a self-trained artist and sculptor. He has been designing and creating unique sculptures in stone and hardwood for over 40 years. His unique background influences his works of art. Julian was born and raised in Vermont and is a direct descendant of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma through his mother Eileen, and of Russian-Jewish descent through his paternal grandparents. The Osage Nation is a sovereign, self-governing, federally-recognized Indian tribe. Both of his parents were artists; he grew up amidst their work. Julian followed in the field of sculpture utilizing hammer and chisel to create his works of art. Years of working with stone carving and wood carving tools has impacted the detail of the two- and three-dimensional pieces that Julian has created. He does his stone carving outside during the more temperate months outside his gallery in Stockbridge Vermont. He works on his wood carving when winter months kick in, working primarily in Vermont hardwoods and fruitwoods. His wood carving pieces are remarkable in their life-like appearance. His stone carvings reflect an amazing detail due to the fact that he works with hammer and chisel to create the images and “stories” in stone. Stone carving and wood carving by hand is a rare talent.
Marca Cassity
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Description of Art
(Album Cover 2Sacred: photo by Josue Rivas). During the pandemic lockdown, Cassity was working as a trauma therapist for Native American and LGBTQ+ clients when they read that 33% of Native American LGBTQ+ youth attempted suicide in 2020. While initially stunned by that number, it ended up serving as inspiration for the album 2Sacred. Having been one of those youth, Cassity wanted to share their story to help people feel less alone and more confident in authentically expressing who they are. “After hearing that disturbing statistic, my mission for creating this project was born: If I can make art that even one queer or trans person hears, or sees, and they stay alive and love themselves and their identity more because of it, mission accomplished.” The result is Cassity’s fourth studio album, 2Sacred a collection of 10 songs. The album was funded by the NDN Collective Radical Imagination grant, as well as the Osage Nation Foundation artist grant. The album explores themes of what it means to be Two-Spirit – a LGBTQ+ person with Native American heritage – and one who has learned to love and accept themselves and pursue art as an act of devotion and decolonization. For this highly vulnerable material Cassity was grateful and proud to work with Wolf Carr for vocal production at The Hallowed Halls Studio alongside engineer Justin Phelps who created an environment of safety and groundedness, both as solid allies to a Native American/ Indigiqueer artist.
Artist Biography
Two-Spirit, Indigiqueer artist Marca Cassity (Osage/Kaw) delivers inspired synth-driven electronic rock songs with Native nuances, that speak to overcoming hardship through resilience, in connection to nature, humor, love, compassion, spirituality, and heritage. Guided by spirit, ancestors, and on a mission to help people embrace their identity, Cassity is constantly exploring and evolving as an artist and a person. Called “a songwriter to be reckoned with” by No Depression, for the 2Sacred album project Marca added an X gender marker to their given name to become Marx, in honor of gender diversity which has existed throughout all of history.
Kimberly Jones
Description of Art
Celebrating Osage History with beautiful artwork that symbolizes the beauty and the street that is Osage. Kimberly’s Art can be seen throughout the Osage Nation, whether it be in the Osage Casino and Hotels or in a private collection, her art is sure to add lots of color and vibrancy into the space.
Artist Biography
Kimberly Jones is an Osage and Cherokee Artist that also has some Irish Roots with many artists in the family that include ceramist, contemporary artists, and political cartoonists. Studying multimedia art and art history, she chose painting as her medium, because of the freedom of color and movement the paint provides. Where she keeps her subjects historic in nature to the tribe, she loves to express those subjects in an impressionistic style with a bold twist, bringing the art into the modern designs of today. Her paintings are symbols to what not only makes the history of the tribe, but serve as a reminder of what makes the tribe strong in their values. Of course she believes this has to be done with bold colors and flare. Her paintings can be seen throughout the Osage Casino and Hotels, along with other properties and private collectors. The most notable are the series,”The Million Dollar Elm Tree”, with 4 in the Osage Collection and “The Warrior Horse” with 6 in the series.