NATIVE AMERICAN ART ON VIEW AT SAM NOBLE OKLAHOMA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

More than 150 works of art by Native American artists will be on display Feb. 15 through May 11 at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman. The works were selected from the museum’s permanent collection as well as some pieces on loan from the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. The exhibit, titled “Native American Masterworks: Selections from the Fred and Enid Brown Collection,” includes works ranging from paintings and sculpture to textiles and pottery. Both traditional and contemporary works from many tribes are represented, including pieces by such well-known artists as Alan Houser, Mirac Creepingbear and Jerome Tiger, among others.

The Fred and Enid Brown Collection of Native American Art is a significant historical collection spanning more than 100 years. The full collection contains more than 250 works, donated by Muskogee native Fred E. and Enid Brown in 1999. Fred Brown graduated from the University of Oklahoma’s College of Business Administration in 1934 and from Harvard in 1936. He worked for Tri-Continental, an investment company managed by J.& W. Seligman & Co., in New York until 1988, serving as managing partner and then as chairman, senior managing director and CEO.

Throughout his life, Fred Brown had an interest in Native American art and history and gradually amassed a large collection of Native American art. In 1999, Brown and his wife, Enid, donated the collection to the museum and made a gift of $250,000 to the museum for the construction of the Fred and Enid Brown Native American Art and Special Exhibition Gallery. When he died in 2002, Brown left another significant legacy for the museum with a $500,000 testamentary gift. The gift established an endowment fund that will allow the museum to continue to acquire Native American works of art for the collection.

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The museum is located on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus at 2401 Chautauqua Avenue. A family of four can visit for under $20. Additional information is available on the museum’s Web site: www.snomnh.ou.edu or by calling (405) 325-4712.