Frank Big Bear facts for kids

Frank Big Bear is a talented Native American artist. He was born in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He is also a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, specifically the White Earth Band. Frank Big Bear creates amazing art using many different materials. He is famous for his bright, abstract drawings, paintings, and photo collages. His art often shares messages about his life and how he sees the world.

Early Life and Artistic Journey

Frank Big Bear was born on July 8, 1953, in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. He grew up on the White Earth Reservation at Pine Point. He is part of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Band. When he was 16, in 1968, Big Bear moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He wanted to start his art career there. He also worked as a cab driver to help his family. During this time, he went to North High School. Later, he studied Studio Arts at the University of Minnesota. He even studied with another famous artist, George Morrison.

Frank Big Bear kept working as a cab driver for over thirty years. By 1973, he became an "Artist in residence" at Heart of the Earth School in Minneapolis. This meant he was a special artist working at the school.

Big Bear's Art Career

Big Bear says he taught himself how to make art. He uses art to show his feelings and thoughts. He doesn't want to draw extra attention to himself. When he lived on the Reservation, his ideas for art came from his culture. He often found inspiration in his dreams. Over time, his view of the world changed. It became a mix of his life in the Twin Cities and his Anishinabe tribal identity. Because of this, his art started to show many things. It displayed his Native past, important political topics, and special symbols. It also showed his personal journey to understand himself.

Amazing Artworks by Frank Big Bear

Big Bear uses different art tools like Prismacolor pencils and paint. He creates drawings, paintings, and photo collages. These artworks show his heritage, his people, and his different worlds. Some people compare his style to Picasso. This is because Big Bear uses "cubism and surrealism." These are art styles that show things in new, often dream-like ways. He uses "highly personal signs, symbols, and images." These help him tell stories from his tribe in a modern way.

Chemical Man in a Toxic World (1989-1990)

Chemical Man in a Toxic World is a large drawing. It is 90 by 44 inches and is not framed. You can see it at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. This piece uses Prisma colored pencils. Big Bear uses lines and colors to show how he sees the world. People have called it "a visual dictionary of images from Big Bear's world." He used colored pencils and paper to make many different, bright images.

One part of the drawing shows a man with a "Live Hard Die Young" tattoo. It is on his left arm. Across from him is a woman covered in patterns and symbols. These images show Big Bear's own experiences. They also show his strong feelings against stereotypes about American Indians. Big Bear's unique style creates a strong contrast. He uses bold images and bright colors in all his artworks.

From the Rez, to the Hood, to the Lake (2011)

This art gallery show was at All My Relations Arts in Minneapolis. It was the first time Big Bear showed his multimedia art since 1970. His painting, "From the Rez, to the Hood, to the Lake," was part of it. He made it by putting together "highly personalized signs, symbols, and images." These show how complex modern life is. In this painted picture, a person is shown with geometric shapes and patterns. These shapes are all over the canvas. The person is not clearly defined. However, Big Bear often draws people he knows well. This could be a family member or a friend. This painting is a great example of modern art. Big Bear's colorful style creates an abstract artwork. It also expresses his Anishinabe tribal identity.

Mother of Fire/Sun of Water (2007)

This drawing was shown at Purdue Galleries in West Lafayette, Indiana. It shows how Big Bear uses pop art and comic book styles. This helps him share his vivid imagination and stories. He gets ideas from the White Earth Reservation. He also uses tribal stories passed down through generations. Frank often feels connected to his tribe and people through these drawings. He feels like he lives in many different worlds. Big Bear uses his art skills to share his values and beliefs. For example, he drew a respected woman. She seems important to nature, like the sun and water. This is based on the title. This drawing tells the story of a spiritual being. It shows its role in the modern path of Native people.

Where You Can See His Art

Frank Big Bear's art is part of many important collections. You can find his work at places like:

• Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian
• Dayton Hudson Collection, Minneapolis
• General Mills, Minneapolis
• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul
• Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul
• Plains Art Museum, Moorehead, Minnesota
• North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks
• St. Cloud University, St. Cloud, Minnesota
• St. Paul Companies, Minnesota
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
• Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis

Books and Team Projects

Frank Big Bear has also been part of books and worked with others:

• Drawings by Frank Big Bear (2009, with Andrea Carlson, Peter F. Spooner, and Doug Hanson)

Special Art Shows

Frank Big Bear's art has been shown in many exhibitions. Here are some of them:

Special Art Projects

• 2016-17 The Walker Collage, Multiverse #10, a special project for the Target Project Space at the Walker Art Center.
• 2003 Detritus of the Light People, a mural made with Star Wallowing Bull for the Plains Art Museum, Fargo, MN.
• 1994-98 Dream Catcher Love Song, at Mayda Cortiella School, Brooklyn, part of The New York City Percent for Art Program.

Solo Exhibitions (His Own Shows)

• 2011 Frank Big Bear Paintings: From the Rez to the Hood to the Lake, at All My Relations Gallery, Minneapolis (January 21 - February 28).
• 2008-11 Drawings by Frank Big Bear, a traveling show organized by the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth.
• 2000 Time Zones, at Giddens Learning Center Gallery, Hamline University, St. Paul, MN.
• 1994 Out of the North: Frank Big Bear, at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe.
• 1991 Rochester Art Center, Rochester, MN.
• 1989 Bethel College and Seminary, St. Paul, MN.
• 1987 North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
• 1987 Plains Art Museum, Fargo, MN.

Group Exhibitions (Shows with Other Artists)

• 2015 Arriving at Fresh Water: Contemporary Native Artists from Our Great Lakes, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (May 9, 2015 - February 21, 2016); and Plains Art Museum, Fargo, ND (October 1, 2016 - January 7, 2017).
• 2013 Before and after the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes, at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, George Gustav Heye Center (August 3 - June 15, 2014); and Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (July 26, 2014 - December 7, 2014).
• 2014 Art at the center: 75 Years of Walker Collections, at the Walker Art Center.
• 2010 Until Now: Collecting the New, at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.
• 2007 New Dreaming: October Gallery, London, England.
• 2003 Paper Warriors: the Drawings of Frank Big Bear and Star Wallowing Bull, at Carl Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis.
• 1993 Six McKnight Artists, at MCAD Gallery, Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
• 1992 The Ojibwe Art Expo: Centered Margins: Contemporary Art of the Americas Toward A Post-Colonial Culture, at Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH & Enduring Strength: Two Rivers Gallery and Intermedia Arts Gallery, Minneapolis.

Awards and Fellowships

Frank Big Bear has received many important awards and grants for his art:

• 2015 USA Knight Fellow, United States Artists, Chicago
• 2015 Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellowship, Duluth
• 2013 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant
• 2008 Bush Foundation, Enduring Vision Award, St Paul
• 1998 Bush Foundation Fellowship, St Paul
• 1992 McKnight Foundation Fellowship, Minneapolis
• 1986 Bush Foundation Fellowship, St Paul
• 1982 Jerome Foundation Fellowship, Minneapolis