Nora Mabie
Missoulian
Sean Chandler is among five Native artists selected for the prestigious Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship.
Selected artists each receive an unrestricted grant of $50,000, and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis plans to purchase more than $100,000 worth of their work to add to its collection of contemporary Indigenous art. Pieces by the five artists will be on display at the museum, starting in November. Chandler is among a handful of artists from Montana to win the fellowship since it was created in 1999.
Chandler creates abstract oil paintings on stretched canvas. He said his work reflects “old hide painting style,” mimicking petroglyphs painted on rock.
Eiteljorg Museum Curator Dorene Red Cloud said Chandler “was a clear choice for the selectors.”
“His vision and voice are deeply embedded in his work and reflect his family and people; and they provide us the viewers an intimate glimpse into his mind and soul,” she said.
Chandler, who is Aaniiih, isn’t just an artist. He also wears another important hat in the Fort Belknap Indian Community, serving as the president of Aaniiih Nakoda College. Chandler has been president of the tribal college for two years and said it isn’t always easy to balance his work and art.
“I try not to think about it,” he said. “It just has to be done.”
Early life
Chandler was born in California to parents Al Chandler and Carole Falcon-Chandler. Carole and Al had moved from the Fort Belknap Reservation to California through the Indian Relocation Act, which promised Native Americans jobs if they left their communities. The law, which was part of America’s “Indian termination policy,” has since been criticized for forcing Native people to leave their communities and support systems to assimilate.
Al worked for Xerox in California and always looked for opportunities to be closer to his homeland on the Fort Belknap Reservation. When Sean was a few months old, that opportunity came, and the family moved to Glendive. Al continued to work for Xerox there, and Carole got a job assisting students at Dawson Community College. Sean Chandler, who wore his hair in long braids, was one of a few Native people in his community. Located in eastern Montana, Dawson County is 94 percent White.
(Related: University of Montana names new tribal outreach specialist)
While Chandler encountered “the usual stereotypes and comments” living in Glendive, he said he never struggled to embrace his Native identity, thanks to his upbringing. Chandler learned about art through his father. Together, they would paint traditional Aaniiih images, like those once painted on teepees and buffalo hides. Since he was 13 years old, Chandler dreamed of becoming an artist.
Chandler went on to earn a degree in art from Montana State University in 1997. He worked at UPS through college, and in 2002, he moved to the Fort Belknap Reservation, where his parents had landed. Chandler’s mother was president of the tribal college, and Chandler wanted to help establish a Native American studies program at the school. Chandler earned a master’s degree from MSU in Native American studies.
Working at the college demanded a lot of Chandler’s time. And as he put it, “I took a big break from art.”
Chandler worked at the college and earned his doctorate in educational leadership from UM in 2014. While he was pleased with his work at the college and educational accomplishments, Chandler couldn’t stop thinking about art. It had been 12 years since he’d created anything.
“I kept thinking, ‘I have to get my art stuff going,’” he said. “I didn’t want to be 80 years old thinking, ‘What could I have done with my art?’”
Making time for art
Chandler began making more time — and space — for his painting.
He works on large pieces of canvas, ranging from 6 to 14 feet. At first, he tried to move things around in his workout room to clear space. When he outgrew that, he migrated to the basement. Chandler took posters and picture frames down, so he could staple his canvases to the wall and paint.
As president of the tribal college, Chandler said sometimes, he works every day of the week. It’s not uncommon that he would have to work in the evenings and weekends. Chandler started making time to paint at night, usually around 8 p.m. and sometimes working until 2 or 3 a.m.
In 2018, Chandler learned about an opportunity to be featured in a show at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings. He completed the application but was scared to submit it.
“I didn’t have the guts,” he said.
Chandler misunderstood the deadline for the application, and on the day it was due, he woke up early to drive 206 miles from Harlem to Billings to hand deliver it. Chandler was ultimately selected to participate in the show, which opened more doors for the up-and-coming artist.
He participated in his first solo exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum in 2021, and that led him to another show at the Billings art museum.
“I felt the momentum,” he said. “I was in that mode, so I just wanted to keep it going.”
When Chandler saw applications open for the Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, he said this time, he “had the guts to apply.” He had applied several times in the past and didn’t get in, but this time, he had a body of work, and he’d gained valuable experience participating in shows. He compiled his application in a hotel lobby in Whitefish while on a work trip.
Chandler, now 51, was on another work trip, this time in Las Vegas, when he got the news. He stepped out of a tribal college meeting to answer a call where he learned he was awarded the fellowship that he’d long sought.
“I started thinking about 20 years ago, when I was really trying to be an artist,” he said. “It was always my dream. And I just thought about that. It was this feeling of accomplishment — a special feeling that you can’t quite describe.”
Chandler said he doesn’t yet know what he will do with the fellowship funding, but he knows he needs some new equipment “for my so-called studio.”
Raven Halfmoon, Caddo/Choctaw/Delaware, received the Eiteljorg fellowship this year as well. She currently has an exhibition at the Missoula Art Museum titled, “New Monuments,” on view through the end of the year.
Chandler’s work will be displayed at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and West Art in Indianapolis, starting in November 2023.
This article was first published in the Missoulian.