Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program

 

Lyle Miller paints at Colter Bay

NPS Photo/BK Appleby

 

About the Program

Each summer, Grand Teton National Park hosts Indigenous artists at the Colter Bay Visitor Center to share their traditional and contemporary art with park visitors. This annual summer program will run from mid-May through late-September at the Colter Bay Visitor Center and is proudly supported by the Grand Teton Association.

Visitors are invited to learn about Indigenous cultures through demonstrations where participating artists share the cultural traditions of their tribes through painting, weaving, pottery, beadwork, musical instruments, and more. Artists will offer their finished items for purchase. The Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program is available when the Colter Bay Visitor Center is open.

Most Saturday nights at 7 p.m. throughout the summer, visiting artists will offer live performances and talks at the Colter Bay Amphitheater, available to the public. See below for the current artist and speaker series schedules (each summer's schedule will be posted by May 1).

Grand Teton National Park and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway are the homelands of 24 Associated Tribes with ancestral and cultural connections.

Program History

This program has been underway since the mid-1970s, when the Colter Bay Visitor Center was also home to the Indian Arts Museum and the extensive Vernon Collection. Although the official start date of the program is unknown, Grand Teton National Park feels confident that artists have been demonstrating their crafts and sharing their cultures for more than 40 years. This program had been called the American Indian Guest Artist Program, now known as as the Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program.

 

Interested in Participating?

Each February, Grand Teton National Park begins accepting applications for the upcoming summer's Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program. The application period will be open from mid-February to mid-March (approximately four weeks). Interested artists will need to apply by submitting a program application. First time applicants and artists who have applied before and not yet been admitted to the program must be from the 24 Associated Tribes. Read through How to Apply completely to ensure all necessary qualifications have been met.

 

 

2025 Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program Summer Schedule

At the Colter Bay Visitor Center.

Date	Artist	Tribe	Art Form
May 20 - 26	Carolyn New Holy	Oglala Lakota	Beadwork, star quilts, and ribbon skirts
May 27 - June 2	HarmonyStar Straub	Oglala Lakota / Northern Cheyenne	Beadwork and sewing
June 3 - 9	Laine Thom	Shoshone Goshute Paiute	Shoshonean beadwork
June 10 - 16	Josie and Juan Broncho Guest: Diane Trahant	Shoshone-Bannock	Beadwork
June 17 - 23	Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. - Black Pinto Horse	Arikara / Hidatsa-Crow	Ledger art, painting, sculpture
June 24 - 30	Kimberlee Joy Selwyn Guest: Christopher Dean Weddell	Yankton Sioux	Porcupine quillwork
July 1 - 7	Debbie Rattling Leaf Guest: Jeff Gloyd	Northern Arapaho	Beading / painting
July 8 - 14	Kelly Looking Horse	Oglala Lakota	Lakota style hand drums, dreamcatchers
July 15 - 21	Amanda Teton-Coby	Shoshone-Bannock	Beadwork
July 22 - 28	DG House	Cherokee Tribe of NE Alabama	Painting and sculpting
July 29 - August 4	Samuel Enemy-Hunter	Crow	Beadwork
August 5 - 11	Jola Fay LeBeau Guest: Brandy Decola	Eastern Shoshone	Native American handmade beadwork, string work, hide work, dream catchers
August 12 - 18	Evans Flammond, Sr.	Rosebud Sioux	Hide painting, ledger art
August 19 - 25	Beau Tsatoke	Kiowa	Ledger art
August 26 - September 1	Nancy Nacki Guests: Hovia Edwards, Pete Yellowjohn, Clyde Hall	Shoshone-Bannock	Beadwork, jewelry making, Native American arts & crafts
September 2 - 8	Paul Hacker	Choctaw	Native American flute
September 9 - 15	Willy and Debbie Lamere	Shoshone-Bannock	Arrowheads, beadwork, parchment jewelry, quilts
September 16 - 23	Andrea Two Bulls	Oglala Sioux	Painting, beads, dentillium

 

2025 Indigenous Arts and Cultural Demonstration Program Speaker Series Schedule

At the Colter Bay Amphitheater, Saturdays at 8 p.m.

Date	Artist	Tribe	Program
May 24	Carolyn New Holy	Oglala Lakota	History of Beadwork
May 31	HarmonyStar Straub	Oglala Lakota / Northern Cheyenne	Function to Fashion
June 7	Laine Thom	Shoshone / Goshute / Paiute	Natural Materials, Global Trade Items and Glass Beads Used by the Shoshonean People.
June 14	No Speaker Series
June 21	Monte Yellow Bird, Sr. - Black Pinto Horse	Arikara / Hidatsa-Crow	Traditional Storytelling and Art
June 28	Kimberlee Joy Selwyn	Yankton Sioux	Porcupine quillwork and different techniques of quilling and the different types of rawhide to use.
July 5	James Rattling Leaf	Northern Arapaho	Indigenous Star Knowledge
July 12	Kelly Looking Horse	Oglala Lakota	Lakota Song and Dance
July 19	Amanda Teton Coby	Shoshone-Bannock	Beading: Not Only a Hobby, But a Way of Life.
July 26	DG House	Cherokee Tribe of NE Alabama	Painting Wolves with DG House
August 2	Samuel Enemy-Hunter	Crow	Title TBD
August 9	Jola Fay LeBeau	Eastern Shoshone	Title TBD
August 16	Evans Flammond, Sr.	Rosebud Sioux	Hide-painting and the History of Ledger Art
August 23	Beau Tsatoke	Kiowa	Early Kiowa History of the Tetons
August 30	Hovia Edwards	Shoshone-Bannock	Native American Flute Performance
September 6	Paul Hacker	Choctaw	Winds of the Past
September 13	Willy and Debbie Lamere	Shoshone-Bannock	Native Sign Language with Debbie Lamere & Magic Performance by Wilbur the Coyote Trickster!
September 20	Andrea Two Bulls	Oglala Sioux	Tales My Dad Told Me: Family Connections to Sitting Bull's Band, Imprisonment of Kicking Bear and Short Bull