Cheyenne - check - George Levi
Cheyenne - original drawing by George Levi
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Vintage bank draft: First National Bank of Helena Montana Deposit Slip. Dated: Oct. 14, 1874
Art work: 4 5/8" x 9"
Date: 2018
Artist's Statement:
George C. Levi is a member of the Southern Cheyenne Tribe of Oklahoma. He is also
of Southern Arapaho and Sioux descent. As a member of the Kitfox Society, George
participates in Cheyenne cultural ceremonies. George was raised in the EI Reno and
Geary, Oklahoma communities. He is currently a full-time artist residing in Mustang,
Oklahoma with his wife and children.
The art and history of the Cheyenne people, the ordeals the Cheyenne people endured
to survive, and his wife and children provide George with inspiration and motivation.
George creates art so that Cheyenne people, especially Cheyenne youth, can see
an illustrated history of where the Cheyenne people come from and what their future
holds.
A self-taught artist who is naturally skilled, George has been drawing for as long as he
can remember. His mother, Carolyn Tallbear Levi, and grandmothers, Lillian Whitebird
and Maude Greany, were beadworkers and his sister, Lisa Levi Floyd, is an acrylic
artist and beader. George's grandfather, Kish Whitebird, was a noted silversmith.
Surrounded by creative family members, George conveys their inspiration in his art.
In addition to painting and drawing, George's talent extends to a variety of media
including beadwork and rawhide work. He contributed to two books for the Cheyenne
and Arapaho book project as an illustrator. The two books, "Tsististas Journey" and
"The Tsististas, People of the Plains" will be incorporated into public schools across the
Cheyenne and Arapaho service area in western Oklahoma. George is very proud of
his heritage and shares his knowledge of traditional Cheyenne art with tribal youth and
elders.
George cites the work of older Cheyenne and Arapaho artists and the beadwork
of his friend Rufus Spear, Northern Cheyenne, as his artistic influences. His work
can be seen in various museums across the United States and in private collections
worldwide.
