Details may be incomplete for some artworks. If you have information about a piece of art on this guide, we would appreciate hearing from you! Write to librarian@lclark.edu.
Please note that not all artworks are represented in their entirety in these reference photos.
The Owl
Lelooska (1933-1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
Carved by Lelooska and cast in concrete for the Watzek Library; the original carving is lost. Reinstalled as a gift of Patti and Stephen Beckham and Elizabeth Johnson in memory of the artist and Mark E. Beckham.
The owl was first located outside the original entrance to the library, on the west side of the building, as historic photos show.
Sisiutl
Lelooska (1933–1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
Southern Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl) Style
1985
Gift, Lelooska Foundation, Ariel, WA
Located in entryway
Unpainted pole (detail)
Lelooska (1933–1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
1996
Gift, Lelooska Foundation (Ariel, WA), 1996
Located on second floor
Cedar panel
Lelooska (1933–1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
ca. 1985
Located on second floor
Wooden molds for The Four Apostles
Lelooska (1933–1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
1967
Located on third floor
Wooden molds for The Four Apostles
Lelooska (1933–1996), Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl Northwest Coast)
1967
Located on third floor
Selected Resources on Lelooska
- About Chief LelooskaBiography of the artist from the foundation that his family continues to operate in Ariel, Washington
Lelooska by
Don Smith - or Lelooska, as he was usually called - was a prominent Native American artist and storyteller in the Pacific Northwest. Born in 1933 of ?mixed blood? Cherokee heritage, he was adopted as an adult by the prestigious Kwakiutl Sewid clan and had relationships with elders from a wide range of tribal backgrounds. Initially producing curio items for sale to tourists and regalia for Oregon Indians, Lelooska emerged in the late 1950s as one of a handful of artists who proved crucial to the renaissance of Northwest Coast Indian art. He also developed into a supreme performer and educator, staging shows of dances, songs, and storytelling. During the peak years, from the 1970s to the early 1990s, the family shows with Lelooska as the centerpiece attracted as many as 30,000 people annually. In this book, historian and family friend Chris Friday shares and annotates interviews that he conducted with Lelooska, between 1993 and ending shortly before the artist's death, in 1996. This is the story of a man who reached, quite literally, a million or more people in his lifetime and whose life was at once exceptional and emblematic.
Call Number: Stacks E78.N78 F75 2003, also available as an ebookPublication Date: 2003
