Walter Richard West Sr. (1912–1996, Southern Cheyenne), was a painter, sculptor, and educator. He led the Art Department at Bacone College from 1947 to 1970. He later taught at

Haskell Institute Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for American Indian children, the school has developed into a university operated by ...

for several years. Jones, Ruthe Blalock
West, Walter Richard Sr. (1812–1996)
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (3 Nov 2009) West is an enrolled member of the

Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsi ...

Early life and education

West was born on September 8, 1912, in a tipi near the

Darlington Agency The Darlington Agency was an Indian agency on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation prior to statehood in present-day Canadian County, Oklahoma. The agency was established in 1870. The agency established at Fort Supply the previous year was ...

in Oklahoma. His Cheyenne name, Wapah Nahyah, means "Lightfooted Runner." His father was Lightfoot West. His mother was Rena Flying Coyote, also known as Emily Black Wolf, whose parents were Big Belly Woman and Thunder Bull. West's Lester, 607 West attended

Concho Indian Boarding School Concho Indian Boarding School (also known as the Cheyenne-Arapaho Boarding School at Concho or Concho Indian School and home to the Concho Demonstration School) was a boarding school for members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. It initially ser ...

and

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas River, Kansas and Waka ...

. At that time, Haskell had grades 9-12 and served as a high school; he graduated in 1935. (It later gained status as a junior college and then as a four-year college.) One of his earliest artistic mentors was painter

Carl Sweezy Carl Sweezy (1881–1953) was a Southern Arapaho painter from Oklahoma.Gettys, MarshallSweezy, Carl (1881-1953). ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (15 Nov 2009) He painted individual portraits, but was ...

(1881–1953),

Southern Arapaho The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma. History The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct ...

.Wyckoff, 288 From 1936 to 1938, West attended Bacone College in

Muskogee, Oklahoma Muskogee () is the thirteenth-largest city in Oklahoma and the county seat of Muskogee County. Home to Bacone College, it lies approximately southeast of Tulsa. The population of the city was 36,878 as of the 2020 census, a 6.0 percent decrease ...

, where he earned an associate's degree. At Bacone, West studied under celebrated artist,

Acee Blue Eagle Acee Blue Eagle (17 August 1907 – 18 June 1959) was a Native American artist, educator, dancer, and Native American flute player,Wyckoff, 92 who directed the art program at Bacone College. His birth name was Alexander C. McIntosh, he also we ...

(1907–1959, Muscogee). His classmates at Bacone College included

Terry Saul Chief Carl Terry Saul (1921–1976) also known as C. Terry Saul and Tabaksi, was a Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw illustrator, painter, muralist, commercial artist, and educator. He was a leader of the Choctaw/Chickasaw tribe. He served as Director of t ...

and Oscar Howe. As a young man, West played football and worked in oil fields. West enrolled at University of Oklahoma (OU), where he earned a BFA degree in 1941. He later returned for graduate work, earning an MFA degree in 1950. While at OU, he studied under Swedish-American artist Oscar Jacobson (1882–1996), who mentored the Kiowa Six, other Native American artists. West felt that Jacobson's active support of Native Americans helped him cope with the widespread racial prejudice that he encountered in the city of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

. In 1941 and 1942, West lived in Phoenix, Arizona, where he studied mural painting under

Olle Nordmark Olle Emanuel Nordmark (May 25, 1890 – December 18, 1973) was a Swedish painter and muralist born in Nordanholen at Mockfjärd parish. He was focused on an art career from an early age. After emigrating in 1924 to the United States to gain ...

(1890–1973), a Swedish-American artist and sculptor. West continued post-graduate studies at

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 ...

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin to ...

, and Redlands College.

Marriage and family

In 1940, West married Maribelle McCrea. They had two sons together,

W. Richard West Jr. Walter Richard "Rick" West Jr. (born January 6, 1943) is the president and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles. He was the founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian,

and James Lee West. In 1970, he married his second wife, Rene Wagoner.

Teaching career

In 1941, West began his first teaching assignment at the Phoenix Indian School, serving primarily

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

students. After the United States entered World War II, he joined the US Navy the next year and fought in Europe, serving from 1942 to postwar 1946. Upon his honorable discharge, West returned to teaching at the Phoenix Indian School. He was hired at Bacone College in

, where he became head of the art department and taught from 1947 to 1970. From 1970 to 1977, West taught art at Haskell Indian Junior College in Kansas. He influenced generations of Native American artists. His students included such successful artists as Joan Hill, Enoch Kelly Haney,

Johnny Tiger Jr. Johnny Moore Tiger Jr. (Muscogee Creek-Seminole), (February 13, 1940 – August 5, 2015) was a Native American artist from Oklahoma.Lester, 557 Background Johnny Moore Tiger Jr. was born on February 13, 1940 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. His parents ...

, Sharron Ahtone Harjo,

Marlene Riding In-Mameah Marlene Riding In Mameah (March 5, 1933 – July 10, 2018) was a Pawnee Native American silversmith and painter. Born Marlene Mary Riding In in Payne County, Oklahoma, Mameah was a member of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. Education Mameah a ...

, and Virginia Stroud. From 1979 to 1980, West served as professor emeritus at Bacone College.

Artwork

Dick West was a master of flat-style painting, that drew upon the pictorial and narrative aspects of Plains hide painting. Flat style painting frequently portrays tribal dances and histories. His works portrayed Cheyenne culture, as informed by his highly traditional upbringing. A complete departure from that style was West's ''Indian Christ'' series, which were lush, allegorical oil paintings of New Testament stories with Native American figures, set in the Southern Plains. Through this series, West wanted to portray the universality of Jesus. Although flat-style is what he is best known for, West also painted abstract and highly stylized works in oil, watercolor, tempera, and gouache. He illustrated four books and also sculpted in wood and metal.

Awards and honors

The Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned West to paint a mural for the U.S. Post Office of Okemah, Oklahoma in 1941. He won two grand awards from the

Philbrook Museum 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 wi ...

. In 1964, he won the Waite Phillips Outstanding Indian Artist Award from the Philbrook Museum of Art. In 1962, the Eastern Baptist College awarded him an honorary doctorates in humane letters, as did the Baker University, in 1976. From 1979-80, West was a commissioner on the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.

Public collections

West's work can be found in the following public art collections: * Bacone College *

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

* Denver Art Museum * Eastern Baptist College,

St. David's, PA St. Davids is a primarily residential neighborhood located in the eastern part of Wayne, Pennsylvania. It is served by its own train station. St. Davids is home to the main campus of Eastern University, a four-year, liberal arts university affili ...

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Overview The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...

* The George Gustav Heye Center * Gilcrease Museum *Indian Arts and Crafts Board,

US 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 mana ...

* Joslyn Art Museum * Koshare Indian Museum * Museum of Northern Arizona, Katherine Harvey Collection *Muskogee Art Guild, OK *

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

* Philbrook Museum of Art *St. Augustine's Center, Chicago, IL *Seminole Public Library, OK *

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 ...

* University of Oklahoma, Library

Death

Dick West died on May 3, 1996.

Quote

'' e Indian artist must be allowed freedom to absorb influences outside of his own art forms and see the promise of a new lane of expression that should keep the Indian's art the art form termed 'native Indian painting,' and I give my student every opportunity to execute it... I have always felt that the term abstraction has been a part of the Indian's artistic thinking longer than most European contemporary influences and perhaps in a ruerform..." —Dick West, 1955Wyckoff, 287

Notes

References

*Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman and London: The Oklahoma University Press, 1995. . *Wyckoff, Lydia L., ed. ''Visions and voices : Native American painting from the Philbrook Museum of Art''. Tulsa, OK: Philbrook Museum of Art, 1996. .

External links

Walter Richard West
on AskArt with images
1970s KTUL sign-off: Indian sign language
Walter Richard "Dick" West performing "Lord's Prayer" using sign language, from Channel 8's nightly signoff in the 1970s via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:West, W. Richard Sr. 1912 births 1996 deaths People from Canadian County, Oklahoma Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes people Native American painters Painters from Oklahoma Bacone College alumni Bacone College faculty University of Oklahoma alumni Section of Painting and Sculpture artists