Kevin Red Star facts for kids
Kevin Red Star (born in 1943) is a talented Native American painter from Montana. He is a proud member of the Crow Tribe of Montana.
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Early Life and Family
Kevin Red Star grew up on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass, Montana. His family really loved art and culture, and they encouraged him from a young age. This helped him develop a strong interest in drawing and music. Even when Crow students weren't allowed to fully connect with their own language and traditions in school, his family's support kept his love for art alive.
Learning to Be an Artist
Later, Kevin Red Star was one of only 150 students chosen to attend the brand-new Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here, he was encouraged to explore his own history and culture using modern art techniques.
After graduating, he and some other Native students received special scholarships to the San Francisco Art Institute. This was a great chance for him to learn about new and exciting art styles and how art could be used to talk about important social issues.
He also studied at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and Eastern Montana College (now MSU Billings) in Billings, Montana.
Kevin Red Star's Art
Kevin Red Star mainly creates art using acrylic paints, ink, and collage (which is like making art by sticking different materials together). His main inspiration comes from the rich culture and history of the Crow people.
His work was featured in an important art show called Indian Artists, 1977 at the Via Gambaro Gallery. This gallery was started to show off new Native American artists. Kevin Red Star's art was seen as a great example of the "new generation of Indian painters."
Over many years, Kevin Red Star has had a very successful art career. His paintings and drawings have been shown in more than 100 exhibitions, with about 40 of these being solo shows just for his work! His art was also part of a big exhibition called Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting (2019–2021) at the National Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York.
Special Awards
In 1997, Kevin Red Star received a special award: an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Art from Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana. This was a big honor for his contributions to the art world.
Where to See His Art
You can find Kevin Red Star's amazing artworks in many museum collections. Some of these include:
- The Smithsonian Institution: National Museum of the American Indian
- C.M. Russell Museum
- Heard Museum
- Denver Art Museum
- Eiteljorg Museum
- Southwest Museum
- Whitney Museum of Western Art
- Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
- United States Department of State
- And many, many others!
