Gregg Deal facts for kids

Gregg Deal (Pyramid Lake Paiute) is a modern artist and activist. He creates art that explores what it means to be an Indigenous person today, often mixing traditional ideas with pop culture. His work helps people think about history, stereotypes, and how different cultures interact.

About Gregg Deal

Gregg Deal was born in Park City, Utah, in 1975. His father was white, and his mother was Native American. He is officially a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

In 1998, Deal met his wife, Megan Prymak, in Provo, Utah. They moved to Montclair, Virginia, the next year and got married. In 1999, Deal started studying art at George Mason University, focusing on painting. He and his family lived near Washington, D.C., for 17 years. Now, they live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with their five children.

Art Career and Projects

For 16 years, Gregg Deal worked as a graphic designer and then as a self-employed artist. This was while he lived in the Washington, D.C., area.

After moving to Denver, Colorado, the Denver Art Museum invited him to be a Native Arts Artist-in-Residence. This means he worked there as a special artist. Later, he was also an Artist-in-Residence at UC Berkeley from 2017 to 2018.

Notable Art Exhibitions

Gregg Deal has shown his art in many solo exhibitions. Some of his important shows include:

• Existence as Protest, in 2017, at the Redline Gallery in Milwaukee, WI.
• Supreme Law of the Land, in 2017, at the Denver Art Museum in Denver, CO.
• White Indian, in 2016, also at the Denver Art Museum.
• This Is Indian Land, in 2015, at Art Mart in Fredericksburg, VA.
• REDSKIN, in 2014, as part of Art All Night: Nuit Blanche in Washington, D.C.

Art and Activism

Gregg Deal uses his art to speak out about important issues. He also takes part in political movements. He has been very involved with the #changethename movement. This movement works to change sports team names and mascots that are offensive to Native Americans.

Deal has appeared on TV shows like Totally Biased with Kamau Bell and The Daily Show with John Stewart. He also made a video on Vimeo for the #changethename movement. He wanted Indigenous people to share their thoughts on the mascot issue. He felt that mainstream media often didn't include their voices.

Artistic Inspiration

Gregg Deal looks up to James Luna, a Payómkawichum (Luiseño) artist. Luna is one of Deal's biggest influences. Deal won a special mentorship with the Ford Foundation. This allowed him to go with Luna to the Venice Biennale, a famous art event. For two weeks, Deal helped Luna with his performance art piece called "Emendatio". After this experience, Deal came up with the idea for his own work, The Last American Indian on Earth.

Deal also gets ideas from many street artists. He has mentioned local Washington artists like 181HKS, Ultra, Con, and Maz Paz. He also looks to national artists such as GIANT, REVOK, TWIST, and Shepard Fairey. In addition, Deal finds inspiration from other Indigenous artists. These include Jaque Fraqua, Ernesto Yerena, Nani Chacon, Cheyenne Randall, and Jared Yazzie.

See also

• List of Native American artists
• Visual arts by indigenous peoples of the Americas
• List of Washington Redskins name change advocates