TAHLEQUAH, Okla.–Daniel Horsechief’s painting, Grandmothers, won Best in Show at the Cherokee National Holiday Art Show this evening, Aug. 31, at the Cherokee National Holiday Art Show.
He said it is a tribute to the role women play in his own life and in the life of the nation.
“It’s a painting that’s evolved, ” he said. “I try to show how things are interlinked in my work. It’s almost like composing, like a visual song. [In this painting, I thought of] all the women in my life who have guided me and have helped the whole nation. I think we should always pay homage where it’s due, and my mother, my grandmother, all the women I’ve grown up with have guided us. I tried to incorporate all of that in the colors. It’s a musical tribute…Visual music. I just want people to think in terms of how we’re given these things and we shouldn’t take them for granted. There’s so much giving involved in [women’s lives], and we ought to stop and think about that and thank our mothers and grandmothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, whoever…I wanted to show how everything’s interlinked in that, and it’s kind of like love: It’s in everything. That’s the true power.”
The art show is part of the Cherokee National Holiday activities, which continue throughout Labor Day weekend.
Other award winners are as follows:
- Judge’s Choice (Adult): “Cherokee Rose Buds” by Renee Hoover; “Cherokini” by Sharon Irla; “Creation” by Daniel Horsechief
- Judge’s Choice (Youth): “Unega Gadaldodi” by Kelsey Morgan; “Moon Diva” by Lucy Ledbetter; “Cherry Blossoms” by Emily Baldridge
- Principal Chief’s Choice (Adult): “Weave Your Own Path” by Brandi Brown
- Principal Chief’s Choice (Youth): “Fluttering Beauty” by Tanner Williams
- Deputy Chief’s Choice (Adult): “Weave Your Own Path” by Brandi Brown
- Deputy Chief’s Choice (Youth): “Sawa” by Matthew Tidwell
- Speaker of Council’s Choice (Adult): “Creation” by Daniel Horsechief
- Speaker of Council’s Choice (Youth): “Fluttering Beauty” by Tanner Williams
- First Place (Pottery): “Bird Effigy Pot” by Troy Jackson
- First Place (Painting): “Be Still, Stay Low” by Dan Timmons
- First Place (Drawings, Graphics): “Keeping the Balance” by Bryan Waytula
- First Place (Photography): “Dreams Travel Home” by Brenda Bradford
- First Place (Sculpture): “Divided We Fall” by Troy Jackson
- First Place (Basketry): “Story Basket” by Ramona Lossie
- First Place (Textiles and Weaving): “Winter Forest” by Karen Berry
- First Place (Diverse Arts): “3-Eagle” by Jeffrey Watts
- First Place (Jewelry): “Sequoyah Necklace” by Greg Stice
- First Place (Youth 1-8): “How Milky Way Came to Be” by Tyler Ray
- First Place (Youth 9-13): “Seven Clans” by Anita Mitchell
- First Place (Youth 14-18): “Fluttering Beauty” by Tanner Williams