Native American Insights program to present painter Norma Howard

Press Release Date: 10-29-2010

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State University will present Choctaw-Chickasaw painter Norma Howard at 1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Glen D. Johnson Student Union auditorium.

Howard will be featured in the Insights program, a one-person event, which alternates yearly with the full Native American Symposium.

The self-taught painter will discuss and present examples of her work. Admission is free and University students, faculty and staff, along with members of the community, are invited to attend.

Howard began drawing at an early age, using crayons her father would buy. She later taught herself to paint using watercolors. Today, the images she paints combine personal reflection and Native American heritage.

She had seven brothers and sisters and her family often struggled against poverty on the same parcel of land that her mother, Ipokni, homesteaded after walking almost 500 miles from Mississippi to Oklahoma in 1903.

A central theme in all of Howard’s paintings is family. Despite financial hardships, her memories of family tend to be joyful and exuberant. She always manages to depict a deep sense of commitment and affection.

Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa now displays one of her paintings, "Gathering Corn," in its permanent collection. Howard resides in Stigler, Oklahoma.