Wyoming Arts Council

2016 National Cowboy Poetry Gathering focuses on Northern Plains

Featured News | July 10, 2015

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We saw this online in the July 5 issue of the Elko Daily Free Press. Thought we’d share it since so many Wyomingites are presenters each January at Elko:

The Western Folklife Center has selected the artwork for the 32nd National Cowboy Poetry Gathering poster. It is titled “Comes Back,” by Oglala Lakota artist Donald F. Montileaux.

This piece was chosen to represent the Northern Plains, which is the focus for the 32nd Gathering scheduled in 2016.

“Comes Back” was created with India ink and colored pencils on ledger paper from the 1930s. Ledger Art is a Northern Plains Indian art form that refers to the accounting ledger books that were a common source of paper for the Plains Indians from the 1860s to the 1940s.

Donald F. Montileaux, an Oglala Lakota, is a master ledger artist and, following in the footsteps of his forefathers, he has rekindled ledger art with a collection of striking images that capture the unique Lakota ways of life. Here is what Montileaux has to say about his art:

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