Overview

In late June 1936, American painter, Clyfford Still (1904–1980), and his Washington State College (WSC) faculty supervisor, Worth Griffin, traveled to the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation in northeastern Washington and sketched portraits of people they met there, including several Tribal elders. They also captured in detail the nearby Grand Coulee Dam—then under construction—a massive project destroying much of the Tribes’ traditional lifeways. Most critical was the loss of the salmon runs that gave the Nespelem community physical, spiritual, and cultural sustenance. Deeply affected by contrast between 20th-century progress and what many considered an outdated, dying culture, they proposed a summer art program on the Reservation. Established in 1937, the Nespelem Art Colony produced the first extensive visual record of the Nespelem people. While the impacts of the Nespelem Art Colony on its students, instructors, and the Washington State University community have been well documented, records of the Tribes’ views were scarce. Then, in 2022, the Tribe asked if Colville Reservation youth could become part of the Clyfford Still Museum’s future activities. The Museum team listened to and learned from Tribal leadership, local indigenous artists, teachers, and the children who eventually served as co-curators, selecting and interpreting Still’s art. In his portraits they recognized relatives and loved ones; many landscape paintings represented familiar places and home. In the body of abstract paintings Still made in the decades after he left Washington state, they saw reminders of grandparents; of Indigenous textiles and artworks; and the foundation of our shared present. Their “Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi’” Exhibition—delightfully documented in this exhibition catalog by the same name—opened in Denver in September 2025. In both, Indigenous children’s voices and perspectives are everywhere, as is the joy these students derived from engaging with Still’s art and connecting to their own familial and Tribal histories.

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9780874224436

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Bailey H. Placzek is the Curator of Collections, Catalogue Raisonné Research and Project Manager at the Clyfford Still Museum Nicole Cromartie is the Director of Learning & Engagement at the Clyfford Still Museum Jami Clark is the family support specialist at Nespelem Head Start Center in Nespelem, Washington. Lisa Vaughan is a teacher at Nespelem Elementary School in Nespelem, Washington. Ted Moomaw is the executive director at the Hearts Gathered Waterfall School in Omak, Washington Michael Holloman (AKA M. Yellowbear) is an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation, located in Northeastern Washington State. He is a tenured Professor in the Department of Art at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, WA, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Native American Art History and the studio arts. Additionally, he serves as the Drawing Coordinator for the department and Coordinator for Native Arts, Outreach and Education for the College of Arts and Sciences. John Eli Sirois is a father, son, grandson, brother and committed community member of the Colville Indian Reservation. An enrolled member of the Okanagan and Wenatchi Bands of those Confederated Tribes, he was born and raised on the Colville Indian Reservation in Omak, WA. Joyce Tsai, PhD, is the director of the Clyfford Still Museum and is an internationally acclaimed curator, scholar, and teacher. Gary Regester is the collections photographer at the Clyfford Still Museum. Brent Andeck is an internationally-published photographer & videographer with over 20 years experience.

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