Rapid City pays respects to revered Rosebud artist Robert Penn

RAPID CITY — The Rapid City Arts Council is set to open a major summer long exhibition May 28 of late Lakota artist Robert Penn’s works. Entitled “WOKIKSUYE”, it commences at the Dahl Arts Center Cyclorama Gallery with “a gathering for those who would like to share memories or stories” from the life of the artist, the city said in an open invitation to the reception.

Wokiksuye is a translation from the Lakota language, meaning “a remembrance.” The public reception is scheduled from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. The show will be in the Senator Stan Adelstein & Lynda K. Clark Gallery of the Dahl Arts Center. The artwork will be on display through Aug. 21, according to hosts.

Most of the artwork is from the collections of Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center in Chamberlain and from Cathy and Larry Piersol of Vermillion, where Penn lived, they said.

Among the pieces demonstrating the artist’s versatility are ‘Legend of the Four Brothers” a 1986 watercolor on paper; “Flute Player”, 1989, scratchboard; “Pipe Carrier”, a 1989 watercolor on paper; and the 1989 pastel on paper “Madonna and Child.”

Some of Penn’s works are only on view at collections in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and the Vincent Price Gallery in Chicago.

Sicangu Lakota and Omaha, Penn was born on May 3, 1946 in Omaha and passed on Feb. 7, 1999. He attended high school at St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of South Dakota in 1992.

Penn was a protégé and work study assistant of former South Dakota Artist Laureate Oscar Howe (1915-1983), a Yanktonai Dakota. Known as Bobby and his Lakota name Wichapi Cik’ala, or Little Star, he explored and mastered every style of art that he pursued.

“He seemed to move effortlessly from large oil paintings to intimate watercolor pieces. It didn’t matter if he was working on a portrait study in acrylics or a landscape painting, Penn was equally adept at any media and style he chose to pursue, and this was one of the things that set him apart from other artists,” exhibit curators said.

“He painted ‘the truth’ as he found it in the world, and he attributed this creative talent to Wakan Tanka – the Great Spirit,” they said, noting that Penn has long been viewed and spoken of as one of South Dakota’s greatest contemporary artists.

The same he received his college degree, Penn earned the South Dakota Governor’s Award for Distinction in Creative Achievement in the Arts. The South Dakota Hall of Fame inducted him in 1998, saying he “established himself as a leading American Indian artist, not only regionally, but also nationally.”

Akta Lakota Museum has captured some of Penn’s words for posterity in its archives: “Abstraction of symbols and themes can re-interpret and integrate the modern world as seen from an Indian viewpoint without strict adherence to traditional art forms and can transcend both worlds to become contemporary modern art as well as a cultural statement.

“I am constantly aware of the danger of being typecast as far as subject matter goes; there is far more to my vision than just recreating pictures of the past. Art has always been my central issue … it is also my biggest prayer,” Penn once said.

The exhibit is sponsored by Sen. Stan Adelstein (Ret.) and Mrs. Lynda Clark Adelstein, the South Dakota Arts Council, and the Rapid City Arts Council.

The Dahl Arts Center galleries are open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4. p.m. It is a municipal facility managed by the Rapid City Arts Council. It receives support from members and donors, including the City of Rapid City, Allied Arts Fund, the South Dakota Arts Council through the Department of Tourism and State Development, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Admission is free; however, for those with the ability to pay, donations are encouraged and appreciated, hosts note. For more information about this and other upcoming exhibits, visit thedahl.org

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net)

The post Rapid City pays respects to revered Rosebud artist Robert Penn first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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