"Indigenous Brilliance" by Joseph Erb (Cherokee). Silhouetted figures depict the past, present, and future of the Cherokee. The design, inspired by his son, leaves a lasting impression.
School of Visual Studies Assistant Professor Joseph Erb is one of four Native artists whose artwork is featured in the new First Americans Museum, a site which showcases the collective histories of 39 distinctive First American Nations in Oklahoma City, OK.
Erb, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, designed "Indigenous Brilliance," a two-story digital illustration that tells the story of First American people and features historical events including tribal removal and the Dust Bowl as well as Native contributions. Erb's design was inspired by his son and features silhouetted figures depicting the past, present, and future. The art is screen printed on a two-story copper wall in the Tribal Nations Gallery. It is a project of the Oklahoma Arts Council's Art in Public Places program in cooperation with Native American Cultural and Educational Authority. The museum opens to the public on September 18, 2021.