Ruthe Blalock Jones (born 1939) is a

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

- Peoria painter and printmaker from Oklahoma.Watson, Mary Jo
"Jones, Ruthe Blalock (1939—)."
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (retrieved 23 Aug 2010)

Background

Ruthe Blalock Jones was born on June 8, 1939 in

Claremore, Oklahoma Claremore is a city and the county seat of Rogers County in Green Country or northeastern Oklahoma, United States. The population was 19,580 at the 2020 census, a 5.4 percent increase over the figure of 18,581 recorded in 2010.Shawnee Tribe The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma. Formerly known as the Loyal Shawnee, they are one of three federally recognized Shawnee tribes. The others are the Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and t ...

. Her father Joe Blalock was Shawnee/Peoria and her mother Lucy Parks Blalock was Delaware. She is a member of the Horse Clan of the Lower Band of Shawnee. She earned an associate degree from

Bacone College Bacone College, formerly Bacone Indian University, is a private tribal college in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Founded in 1880 as the Indian University by missionary Almon C. Bacone, it was originally affiliated with the mission arm of what is now Ameri ...

in 1970. She then earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Tulsa in 1972. In 1985 she attended the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

and earned her master's degree from

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1989. Her art career began much earlier, when she was ten years old and students under

Charles Banks Wilson Charles Banks Wilson (August 6, 1918 – May 2, 2013) was an List of American artists 1900 and after, American artist. Wilson was born in Springdale, Arkansas in 1918; his family eventually moved to Miami, Oklahoma, where he spent his childho ...

Art career

At the age of 13, Jones entered her first juried art show at the

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

and received an honorable mention. She works in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pen and ink, and pencil as well as printing

monotype Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The ...

s.Lester, 274 Her first art award was an honorable mention at the Philbrook Art Museum's annual show in 1954, when Jones was 15 years old.McDonnell, Brandy
"Nationally known artist-educator Ruthe Blalock Jones is named 2011 Red Earth Honored One."
''NewsOK.'' 3 June 2011 (retrieved 4 June 2011) In 1995 she was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. In 2011, she was named the

Red Earth Festival The Red Earth Festival is a Native American cultural festival that takes places every June in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. Red Earth, Inc. is the nonprofit organization that hosts the festival and maintained the Red Earth Art Center, ...

's Honored One. In 2014 she was awarded the American Indian Circle of Honor Award by the

Tulsa City-County Library The Tulsa City-County Library (TCCL) is the major public library system in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. Overview The library system serves those who live, work, go to school in, own land in, or pay property taxes on land in Tulsa County. There are 24 b ...

. "Ruthe's art speaks volumes about the pride of her tribal relationships. ... She pays acute attention to authenticity in detail of dress and the ceremonial aspects of traditional tribal life, and some of her paintings could easily be her childhood recollections," writes art historian Dr. Mary Jo Watson (

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

). "Ruthe has many talents maybe others are not aware (of). She is a champion hoop dancer, war dancer and excellent cook."

Public collections

Ruthe Jones' work can be found in the following public collections: *

Five Civilized Tribes Museum The Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma, showcases the art, history, and culture of the so-called "Five Civilized Tribes": the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Creek), and Seminole tribes. Housed in the historic Union Indi ...

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

George Gustav Heye Center The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

*Murrow Indian's Children's Home *

* Okmulgee Public School System *

*Red Earth Museum *Sequoyah National Research Center *

Southern Plains Indian Museum Southern Plains Indian Museum is a Native American museum located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. It was opened in 1948 under a cooperative governing effort by the United States Department of the Interior and the Oklahoma state government. The museum feat ...

*Tulsa Performing Arts Center * University of Tulsa *

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

Published works

*"Delaware Commentaries." Grumet, Robert Steven, ed. ''Voices from the Delaware Big House Ceremony.'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. . *"The Bread Dance: A Shawnee Ceremony of Thanks of Renewal." Townsend, Richard F., ed. ''Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South.'' New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. ."Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand."
''Yale University Press.'' (retrieved 23 Aug 2010)

Notes

References

* Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995. .

External links

Ruthe Blalock Jones online profileRuthe Blalock Jones online portfolio

* ttps://cdm17279.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/halloffame/id/65/rec/32 Oral History Interview with Ruthe Blalock Jones Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the OSU Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Blalock Jones, Ruthe 1939 births Living people People from Claremore, Oklahoma Native American painters Native American printmakers Painters from Oklahoma Peoria people Shawnee Tribe people Lenape people Bacone College alumni Northeastern State University alumni University of Tulsa alumni American women painters 20th-century American women artists American women printmakers 20th-century American printmakers Native American women artists 21st-century American women artists 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women