2006 Commemorative Poster
Bert Seabourn Painting, Golden Memories, Selected for Commemorative Poster
Golden Memories, an oil-on-canvas painting by renowned Oklahoma artist Bert Seabourn, has been selected for the commemorative poster for the 20th annual Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence Academic Awards Banquet.
“Each year, the foundation creates a poster featuring an Indian-themed painting to present to its Academic All-State and Medal for Excellence winners,” said Emily Stratton, executive director of the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. “Bert Seabourn is an internationally acclaimed artist, and we are grateful to him for sharing his majestic painting, Golden Memories, which so beautifully illustrates this year’s banquet them, “On the Wings of Eagles.”
Seabourn’s 1988 Golden Memories painting is one in a long series of works featuring hawks, eagles and other birds of prey. Blended within each bird image is the face of an old man. He said the Native American belief that all creation is related inspired his conception of using the birds of the sky and animals of the land to record the Indian way of life.
In a narrative about the painting, spoken from the perspective of the eagle, Seabourn wrote, “In your medicine bag you carry bone of my body and whistle of my claw. The feathers you wear on your head and the feathers you carry as a fan are connections between man and the Great Mystery. My flight is your flight … My prayers are your prayers. My needs are your needs, my red brother. A place to procreate and a place to dream.”
Seabourn said the series includes works that are featured in the private collections of U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford and George Bush Sr.
Born in 1931, Seabourn sold his first art to King Features Syndicate while he was in eighth grade in Purcell. After graduating from high school, he joined the Navy, serving several years as a Navy artist-journalist. After his naval career, Seabourn moved to Oklahoma City, where he worked 23 years as an artist and art director for Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. In 1978, he resigned from OG&E to pursue a full-time career as a painter of fine art.
While he has been recognized as a Native American artist, Seabourn describes himself “an American expressionist,” who paints Indian and non-Indian subjects and who experiments intensively with creative vitality. He is also a printmaker, sculptor, author and teacher.
The recipient of many honors, Seabourn was designated a Master Artist by Muskogee’s Five Civilized Tribes Museum in 1976 and received the Governor’s Arts Award from Gov. George Nigh in 1981. In 1986, his 23-foot-tall bronze sculpture, Wind Walker, was unveiled at the Oklahoma City headquarters of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oklahoma in 1997 and was presented Oklahoma’s Living Treasure Award in 2004.
Seabourn’s works can be found in permanent collections throughout the world, from the Vatican in Rome and China’s National Palace Museum in Taipei to the American Embassy in London and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. In addition to exhibiting his works around the globe, Seabourn leads workshops in watercolor, acrylic and printmaking and teaches art classes at the City Arts Center in Oklahoma City.
The 18-by-24-inch commemorative poster is designed by Daren Shepherd, art director for Southwestern Stationery & Bank Supply Inc. The poster is available for $15, including shipping, and can be purchased at the Academic Awards Banquet or by contacting the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence at (405) 236-0006.