The Annual Oscar Howe Memorial Lecture was established in 1989 by USD to help perpetuate Howe's message that Native American art is a vital cultural force in today's world and to promote cutting-edge Indian art on the Northern Plains. Past Howe Memorial Lectures have featured leading scholars and artists, including Frederick Dockstader, John A. Day, Bill Anthes, Christina Burke and Tahnee M. Ahtone.
Oscar Howe, Yanktonai Dakota, served as USD artist-in-residence and art faculty member for 25 years, bringing international recognition to both the university and the state of South Dakota. Over his 40-year career, Howe earned many honors and awards, including numerous grand and first prizes in national competitions. He was designated artist laureate of South Dakota, awarded the prestigious Waite Phillips Trophy for Outstanding Contributions to American Indian Art and was recipient of the first South Dakota's Governor's Award for Creative Achievement in the Arts.
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32ND ANNUAL OSCAR HOWE MEMORIAL LECTURE ON AMERICAN INDIAN ART
Donald F. Montileaux
"I have made a choice to share, give and show my culture to the world." –Montileaux
Donald F. Montileaux (Yellowbird) is a modern-day storyteller, rekindling the images of the Lakota lifestyle by painting the people as they were. Montileaux regards himself as having a mission: "To portray the Lakota, the Native Americans, in an honest way. To illustrate them as people who hunted buffalo, made love, raised children, cooked meals, and lived.
To describe my work is to reflect back to my forefathers. The surfaces that they used were hides, rock walls and surfaces both smooth and rough and hides both tanned and rawhide.
I use ledger and watercolor papers as well as canvas and animal hides to create my work. I enjoy using different types of materials to present the finished product to the viewer. In this way I can achieve somewhat the same look as my forefathers created with their work.
The art is a flat two-dimensional intense color; fiery red, brilliant yellow and translucent blues. These colors, I feel, are the colors that my ancestors would have used if they had access to the wealth of color we have today".
A world-renowned artist and illustrator, Montileaux is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. He has received awards, including induction into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2014. Along with attending major art shows throughout his artistic career, his art has illustrated the covers of numerous books. His art is included in numerous corporate, public and private collections, and he has been the featured artist in art galleries in New Mexico, Minnesota, Arizona, Colorado, and South Dakota.