Brinton Museum Honors Indigenous People in October

In recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, The Brinton Museum will present special October programming focused on Native art, artists, histories, and cultural traditions.

Programs include a talk and demonstration with Oglala Lakota artist Dwayne “Chuck” Wilcox on October 10 and the inaugural Father Powell Distinguished Lecture featuring renowned scholar Gaylord Torrence on October 15.

On Saturday, October 10, from 11:30 AM–1:30 PM, The Brinton Museum will welcome Dwayne “Chuck” Wilcox (Oglala Lakota) for an artist talk and demonstration.

Wilcox is best known for his drawings on ledger paper, which use humor, parody, and contemporary observation to explore Native life and experience. Born in Kadoka, South Dakota, and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation, His work has received numerous honors, including the Oscar Howe Award, Joan Mitchell Foundation Award, and South Dakota Governor’s Award, and is represented in museum collections across the country.

The inaugural Father Powell Distinguished Lecture will feature Gaylord Torrence presenting Divinely Lit: Symbolism in Plains Indian Art. This will be held on Thursday, October 15, from 5–6:30 p.m., with refreshments beginning at 5. The Father Powell Distinguished Lecture Series is presented by the Foundation for the Preservation of American Indian Art and Culture in partnership with The Brinton Museum.

Torrence is the founding curator and curator emeritus of Native American Art at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and professor emeritus of fine art at Drake University. An internationally distinguished scholar of North American Indian visual arts, Torrence is widely recognized for fostering new perspectives on historical Indigenous art and advancing recognition of contemporary Native artists.

Throughout his career, Torrence has collaborated with Native American communities, cultural leaders, and bearers of traditional knowledge. He is widely published and has served as a guest and consulting curator for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Heard Museum; and Peabody Museum at Harvard University, among other institutions.

In 2014, Torrence curated the landmark exhibition The Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky, which opened at Musée du quai Branly in Paris before traveling to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2018, he guest curated the inaugural gallery of Native North American art at The Met.

During his presentation at The Brinton Museum, Torrence will draw from selected works in the Museum’s Plains Indian collection, including war shirts, muslin paintings, and other objects.

The program will offer audiences an opportunity to encounter familiar works from The Brinton’s collection through Torrence’s scholarship and experience.

Both programs are free and open to the public.

The Brinton Museum connects people to the past, present, and future of the American West through the Quarter Circle A Ranch, Fine Art, and American Indian Art Collections. Located on the historic Quarter Circle A Ranch in Big Horn, Wyoming, the museum presents exhibitions, programs, and experiences exploring the art, cultures, histories, and landscapes of the West.