Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art presents WITHIN: Louis Still Smoking & John Isaiah Pepion. WITHIN is drawn from the artists’ belief that the strength and success of Native American identity and culture is internally inherited and created inside of their communities. As artists, they aim to help reclaim, reinform, and redefine what it means to be Blackfeet in Montana today. By looking within, they themselves and their fellow Native American communities become whole again. The artists will collaborate to create a temporary mural inside the museum with integrated individual works. An Artist Talk & Reception will be held Thursday, October 26th.

WITHIN offers the possibility of opening a dynamic conversation with the public through invited speakers and a publication regarding the history and current state of Native art, education, and life in Montana. Expert lectures by Sean Chandler, EdD., and Jennifer Woodcock-Medicine Horse, PhD. will also be held this fall on November 17, 2023 and December 8, 2023.

Louis Still Smoking was born and raised in Browning, Montana on the Blackfeet Reservation. He comes from an artistic family and upbringing; he continues this today. He studied painting and Native American Studies at MSU Bozeman. Louis’ artwork is influenced by the Impressionists, Lucian Freud, and research on the history of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Louis is skilled in 3D sculpting in many materials including granite, two of his sculptures can be found in the exhibition WITHIN and he has plans to grow this aspect of his current art making practice. Louis is most known for his work as a muralist and painter, with murals all over Montana including but not limited to the following cities Browning, MT; Heart Butte, MT; Great Falls, MT; Helena, MT; and Bozeman, MT.. His work is always evolving and growing, “I try to convey a message that is relevant to all native peoples, whether that be social or political my work expresses my own personal beliefs and struggles as a modern Native American.”

John Isaiah Pepion is a Plains Indian graphic artist from the Piikani Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy, based out of the Blackfeet reservation in north-central Montana. John has a BA in Museum Studies from the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM). John is a noted contemporary ledger artist whose powerful imagery represents aspects of culture that intrigue the viewer and often tell a story.

WITHIN: Louis Still Smoking & John Isaiah Pepion is presented for the first time by Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Louis Still Smoking and John Isaiah Pepion were invited by the museum to create a large-scale installation. Together the artists collaborated and worked in conversation with Nicole Maria Evans, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art to bring the project to fruition. 

WITHIN is supported in part by the Montana Arts Council, a state agency funded by the State of Montana, and the National Endowment for the Arts. We are funded in part by coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's cultural and aesthetic projects trust fund. Additional funding is provided by museum members and the citizens of Cascade County, Davidson Family Foundation, D.A. Davidson, Horizon Credit Union, an anonymous donor, and Kelly’s Signs & Design. 

Special funding for this exhibition generously provided by:

Nina Weber
Melissa Smith and David Saslav
Anonymous Donor
Evie Ugrin Dusty and Holly Molyneaux
The Gibson Hotel Great Falls, Ascend Hotel Collection
Hotel Arvon
Cathie Williamson and Mark Tronson

October 26, 2023 at 5:30pm
Artist Reception and Discussion with Louis Still Smoking and John Isaiah Pepion.