Work of 13 Native artists featured at Mid-America All-Indian Museum

The fourth annual “Following Blackbear” exhibit at the Mid-America All-Indian Museum begins Saturday, featuring art from 13 Native American artists spanning 17 tribes.

The exhibit aims to honor Native Americans’ history, specifically Blackbear Bosin — the artist behind The Keeper of The Plains — and his inspirations, including artists like the Kiowa Six. The exhibit, paired with an exhibit featuring the largest collection of Bosin works, gives viewers a look to the past alongside the present and what Native American art is now.

“This is one of the biggest showcases of Native American art in the Midwest right now, truly,” said Erin Roux, the museum curator. “The artists that are a part of this exhibit right now, many of them are getting a great start to their career, they’re becoming well known, they’re being featured in other museums and in other places, but we’re lucky enough to have them all together at once in one place.”

“Following Blackbear IV” will run through August 27, and a Coffee with the Curator event open to the community will be held June 13 at 11 a.m.

All the art featured in the exhibit will be available to purchase, and the proceeds will go to both the artists and the museum.

Roux said deciding what pieces go next to others is more of a “gut feeling” paired with her training as a visual artist, but she put a heavy emphasis on the help she has from her volunteer interns.

“I feel like this is a great exhibit for them to get their feet wet on curating as well,” Roux said.

The exhibit features artworks in various mediums, from statues made with paper cutouts to more traditional canvas paintings.

Roux said the first “Following Blackbear” included seven local artists, but this year the number has nearly doubled and includes some artists from Oklahoma. Roux said that Taiomah Rutledge, one of the featured artists, helped connect her with other artists for the exhibit.

“(Rutledge has) been very influential to me in introductions to other Native American artists,” Roux said. “He is with Harvester arts and does their Artist INC program, so he meets new artists often, as well.

The MAAIM is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $7 for adults; $5 for seniors, military and students; $3 for children; and free for children under the age of 6.