Native art at US embassies

U.S. Embassies To Show Works of Five American Indian Artists

Donated prints will spur understanding of contemporary American Indian artThe works of five prominent American Indian artists soon will be on display at U.S. embassies worldwide, introducing foreign audiences to the richness and variety of contemporary American Indian art.

Norman Akers (of the Osage tribe), Mario Martinez (Yaqui), Larry McNeil (Tlingit), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Flathead Salish) and Marie Watt (Seneca)--artists who often utilize traditional American Indians motifs in unexpected ways--were selected by the U.S. State Department and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian to have their work showcased overseas.

The embassy-bound artworks, which were commissioned for the State Department’s Artists Becoming Ambassadors (ART) in Embassies program, were unveiled in Washington at a November 14 reception attended by the artists, first lady Laura Bush and other dignitaries.Comment:  For more on the artwork below, see Larry McNeil "First Light, Winter Solstice" Lithograph (artist's statement).