About the Artist

Bosin painting mural1921 Francis Blackbear Bosin was born in a tipi on June 5 in Oklahoma to Kiowa and Comanche parents

1940 Moves to Wichita and finds work at Beech Aircraft

1945 Honolulu Academy of Arts one-man exhibition, Aiea Heights Hospital.

1946 Bosin exhibits at first annual American Indian Artists exhibition at Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, and receives citation of merit.

1947-48 Exhibits at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and Detroit Institute of Arts as well as museums in Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New York and Maryland.

Prairie Fire (copyrighted)

Prairie Fire, 1953, image used with permission, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma

1950 Special showing of 66 paintings at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

1955 Works exhibited at National Gallery, Washington, D.C., and National Geographic magazine publishes his painting Prairie Fire, which had won first place at the 1953 Philbrook competition.

1961 Named a fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters at Kreuzlingen, Switzerland.

1965 Invited to White House Festival of Arts, Washington, D.C.

mural: From Whence All Life

From Whence All Life, 1972, detail. Farm Credit Bank Building, Wichita, Kansas

1966 Receives Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Arts and Crafts Board for recognition of outstanding services in the preservation, encouragement and development of the Arts and Crafts of the American Indian.

1967 Chosen as exhibitor at the American Discovers Indian Art Show at the Smithsonian Institution.

1970 Exhibits at the All Indian Show, The Kennedy Theatre, New York.

1972 From Whence All Life, the mural commissioned by the Farm Credit Banks in Wichita, is unveiled.

Keeper of the Plains sculpture

Keeper of the Plains, 1974, Wichita, Kansas

1974 Six years after the initial idea, the Keeper of the Plains statue is completed.

1976 Receives National American Indian Achievements Award from the American Indian Art and Cultural Exchange. Also receives Certificate of Appreciation from the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration and a National American Indian Achievement Award.

1977 Receives Distinguished Service Award from the State of Kansas and is named the Governor’s Artist.

1980 Dies in Wichita, Kansas, at the age of 59.