IACB Features Zachary Lame Bear, Michael Fast Buffalo Horse, and John Marceau in a Special Exhibition

Summer Showcase: Zachary Lame Bear, Michael Fast Buffalo Horse, and John Marceau

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

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August 2, 2019

BROWNING, MONTANA: The Museum of the Plains Indian, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, announces the opening of a special exhibition, Summer Showcase, featuring Zachary Lame Bear, Michael Fast Buffalo Horse, and John Marceau.  The exhibition will run from August 9 to October 4, 2019.  On Friday, August 9, there will be an opening reception from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

Zachary Lame Bear, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, is a skilled maker of traditional Blackfeet drums.  He currently lives in Starr School, Montana, where he works full time as an artist. 

Lame Bear was taught how to make hand drums by relatives when he was just a child.  At the age of 15 he began to focus on his drum making in earnest, working with new materials and creating larger drums.  He now uses various types of hides, including elk, moose, deer, and cow, depending on the intended use of the drum.  Each drum is custom tuned to fit the needs of the intended owner.  Many of Lame Bear’s drums are also painted, often with brightly colored geometric designs reflective of traditional painted Blackfeet lodges.  The inspiration for Lame Bear’s work comes from the musical traditions of his ancestors, and he hopes that his work conveys the resiliency of his people to viewers. 

Michael Fast Buffalo Horse, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, is a talented emerging artist who specializes in ledger art.  A graduate of Montana State University, he now resides in Browning, Montana, where he works as a library technician for the Blackfeet Community College. 

Fast Buffalo Horse’s artistic process begins with first locating antique ledger paper suitable for his drawings.  A preparatory drawing on scrap paper is then created and, once Michael is satisfied with the composition, the outline of the drawing is transferred to the ledger paper using pencil.  The final step in the process is filling in fields of color using acrylic paint, or occasionally marker.  Finding inspiration from such diverse sources as anime, cartoons, and the powwow circuit, Fast Buffalo Horse seeks to blur the line between cultures in his art. 

John Marceau, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe, is a landscape painter who currently lives in Browning, Montana.  He holds a degree in Liberal Arts from the Blackfeet Community College and is currently employed as a food service manager. 

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The son of renowned Blackfeet artist Ernest Marceau, he has been surrounded by the art world since childhood.  Through both formal classwork and instruction from his father, Marceau learned the elements of painting.  Raised just 10 miles from Glacier National Park, the natural landscapes that surround his home have provided Marceau with much of the inspiration for his current work. 

Prices for the artwork can be obtained by contacting The Blackfeet Indian Market at (253) 709-1887.

* Exhibition brochure

The Museum of the Plains Indian is managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board.  For admission fees and hours of operation, please call the Museum of the Plains Indian at (406) 338-2230.