Monte Yellow Bird Sr., a Native American artist, will present “If You’re Going To Shine, Shine Brightly,” at Cloud County Community College’s Cook Series on Thursday, April 24. The event will be at 7:00 p. m. at the college’s Cook Theatre on the Concordia campus. All Cook Series events are free and open to the public.
Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. signs his work with the name he was given through ceremony, Black Pinto Horse. He is devoted to a positive expression of the harmonic balance between humanity and nature. He is the son of Willard (Wolf Trail) Yellow Bird, a descendant of Bears Teeth & Iron Bear and Magdalen (Corn Tassel) Youngbird/Yellow Bird a descendant of Strikes Enemy & Sitting Bear.
While in high school, his math teacher recognized his artistic talent, introducing him to the renowned Institute of American Indian Arts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a 16-year-old that had never left the reservation, he credits this experience as life-changing saying, “It evoked a pride of my culture & a new self-identity.”
Years later, Yellow Bird furthered his art & history studies at North Dakota State University in Fargo, majoring in History Education with an Art minor. In 2002, he earned a BFA from Minot State University in North Dakota.
Since 2004 he has owned and operated his fine arts and educational company, Black Pinto Horse Fine Arts. Yellow Bird is represented by galleries, museums, and educational institutions both nationally and internationally. He attends prestigious Indian Art Markets such as Santa Fe Indian Market, the Heard, and Eiteljorg Museums, and has collectors worldwide, such as art in the permanent collection of the Volkenkunde Museum of Leiden Netherlands and the Nelson- Atkins Museum in Kansas City. Through his art and teaching, he offers us a multitude of gifts, and his optimism shines in his motto: “We are on this earth for such a short time, if we are going to shine, shine brightly.
This year marks the 32nd anniversary of the Charles and Marian Cook Series at Cloud County Community College. The Cooks were travelers who wanted to bring the world to those who could not travel themselves. More than 80 events have been presented through the sponsorship of the Cook Foundation and the Division of Humanities, Social Sciences and Business at Cloud. It was always Marian Cook’s wishes that all Cook Series events be free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Brenton Phillips, dean of Humanities, Social Sciences and Business at Cloud, at 785.243.1435, ext. 244, or by email at bphillips@cloud.edu.
