Joan Brown (artist)

Joan Brown (born 1945)[1] is an American artist, illustrator and educator. She is of Cherokee and Creek descent from Oklahoma.[2][3] Her work is of the Bacone school style.[4]

For the American painter from California, see Joan Brown.

Early life and education

Brown was born and raised in the small town of Yahola, in Northeastern Oklahoma.[5] Her father was Native American and was a drafter and worked at Douglas Aircraft Company in Tulsa.[5] Brown learned to love art from a young age.[5] After her father’s death, Brown learned some elements of the Cherokee and Creek languages, but never became fluent as she wanted to fit in.[6]

At a craft show in the 1970s, Brown was discovered by artist Terry Saul who was an art teacher at Bacone College.[5] Saul encouraged Brown to get her college degree and helped her get a scholarship. Saul continued to mentor Brown and encouraged her to develop and stick to her own style.[6]

Brown continued her studies and attended Northeastern Oklahoma University in the 1970s, where she studied psychology.[5]

Art work

While raising her six children, Brown struggled to find the time to work on her art and often had to stay up late to get her work done.[6] She started selling her work in galleries in 1978.[7]

Brown’s work heavily focuses on traditional Native women and domestic home life.[2] Brown works in many mediums including watercolor and gouache.[6] She is known as the, "Norman Rockwell of Native art" and in 1986 was given the title of Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes.[8] She has had various exhibitions including at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum (1972, 1991, 2019),[9][10][11] the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art (2009),[1] the Cherokee National Museum (1989),[12] among others.

In 1988, her hometown of Muskogee held a “Joan Brown Day.”[13] Brown illustrated the cover of the cookbook, "Pow Wow Chow: A Collection of Recipes from Families of the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokee, Chickasaw. Choctaw, Creek and Seminole" (1984).[14]

Community work and activism

She has taught her children about their Native heritage and the importance of their past.[13] Brown has expressed concerns about the lack of new artists entering the field of Native art. Brown has stated that one of her greatest achievements is her work in helping to care for older people and children in the native community.[6] Another artist, Mary Adair (HorseChief), asked Brown to come and work at the Murrow Indian Children’s Home, where Adair was Director.[13]

While working at a children’s home she taught art classes to the children during the summers. The lack of indigenous social workers in native communities inspired Brown to spend her working life serving the needs of the community. Additionally, Brown began a five-year project to sell some of her artwork to help raise money for an assisted living home.[6]

References
  1. Watson, Mary Jo (2009). "Spirit Red, Visions of Native American Artists From The Rennard Strickland Collection". Issuu (exhibition catalogue). University of Oklahoma, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. p. 45. Retrieved November 22, 2020.
  2. Price, Mary Sue (February 24, 1985). "Artists Dip Deeply Into Heritage". Oklahoman.com. Retrieved November 22, 2020. Joan Brown, a Cherokee from Muskogee, focuses her work on themes which center on the family, mothering, friendship and everyday chores. She studied art at Bacone College.
  3. Power, Susan C. (January 1, 2007). Art of the Cherokee: Prehistory to the Present. University of Georgia Press. p. 207. ISBN 978-0-8203-2766-2.
  4. Lawson, Russell M.; Lawson, Benjamin A. (October 11, 2019). Race and Ethnicity in America: From Pre-contact to the Present [4 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-4408-5097-4.
  5. Price, Mary Sue (December 14, 1986). "Watercolorist Inspired By Indians, Childhood". Oklahoman.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  6. Brown, Joan. "Oral History Interview with Joan Brown". Oklahoma Native Artists Oral History Project. Oklahoma State University. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  7. "Oklahoma's Indian Art Tradition". Oklahoma Today Magazine. 40 (6): 17. December 1990.
  8. "Native American Artists to Show Work". The Oklahoman. April 28, 1985. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  9. "Five Civilized Tribes Art Show. The Indian Journal (Eufaula, Oklahoma), October 12, 1972, p 11". The Indian Journal. October 12, 1972. p. 11. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  10. American Indian Art Magazine. 17. American Indian Art. 1991. p. 21.
  11. Spaulding, Cathy (May 8, 2019). "Women the focus of art exhibit". Muskogee Phoenix. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  12. "Getting There, Cherokee National Museum". Newspapers.com. The Honolulu Advertiser. February 19, 1989. p. 88. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  13. Broder, Patricia Janis (2000). Earth Songs, Moon Dreams: Paintings by American Indian Women. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 148. ISBN 9781466859722.
  14. Mendenhall, Helen Mason (January 25, 1985). "Things I Hear". Newspapers.com. The Herald of Jasper, Indiana. p. 7. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
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