Tommy Wayne Cannon (September 27, 1946 – May 8, 1978) ( Kiowa) was an important Native American artist of the 20th century. He was popularly known as T. C. Cannon. He was an enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe and also had

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

ancestry.

Early life

Cannon grew up in Zodaltone and

Gracemont, Oklahoma Gracemont is a town in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 318 at the 2010 census. The town name is a portmanteau of Grace and Montgomery, the names of two friends of the first postmaster, Alice L. Bailey. Geography Gracem ...

. His parents were Walter Cannon (Kiowa) and Minnie Ahdunko Cannon (Caddo). His Kiowa name, Pai-doung-a-day, means "One Who Stands in the Sun." He learned about the art of the Kiowa Six, a group of Native American painters who achieved international reputations in the fine art world and who helped to develop the Southern Plains Flatstyle of painting.

Stephen Mopope Stephen Mopope (1898–1974) was a Kiowa painter, dancer, and Native American flute player from Oklahoma. He was the most prolific member of the group of artists known as the Kiowa Six.Watson, Mary JoMopope, Stephen (1898-1974). ''Oklahoma Histori ...

and Lee Tsatoke Sr., grandson of

Monroe Tsatoke Monroe Tsatoke (1904–1937) was a Kiowa painter and a member of the Kiowa Six from Oklahoma.Watson, Mary JoTsatoke, Monroe (1904-1937) ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' (29 April 2009) Early life Mon ...

, particularly influenced the young artist. T. C. Cannon enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe in 1964, where he studied painting with

Fritz Scholder Fritz William Scholder V (October 6, 1937 – February 10, 2005) was a Native American artist. Scholder was an enrolled member of the La Jolla Band of Luiseno Indians, a federally recognized tribe of Luiseños, a California Mission tribe. Schol ...

( Luiseño). After graduating from IAIA, he enrolled in the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

but left after two months and enlisted in the army. As a paratrooper in the

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

, Cannon served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. During the Tet Offensive, he earned two

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

s. He was also inducted into the Black Leggings Society, the Kiowa warriors' society.

Art career

While still stationed in Vietnam, Cannon had a breakthrough in his art career. Rosemary Ellison, curator of the

Southern Plains Indian Museum Southern Plains Indian Museum is a Native American museum located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. It was opened in 1948 under a cooperative governing effort by the United States Department of the Interior and the Oklahoma state government. The museum fe ...

in Anadarko, Oklahoma, included him in a major traveling exhibit, ''Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Art''. In 1972, Cannon and fellow artist Fritz Scholder had a two-man exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Collection of Fine Arts, titled ''Two American Painters.'' In this exhibition, Cannon and Scholder subverted visual stereotypes about Native Americans, creating an exploration "in irony and kitsch" which "opened up a new phase of contemporary art". Cannon produced a large body of work over the next six years, in preparation for his first one-man show, scheduled to open at the Aberbach Gallery in New York in October 1978. On May 8 of that year, he died in an automobile accident. After a delay, the show opened on December 10, 1979, as ''T.C. Cannon: A Memorial Exhibition.'' Featuring 50 works by Cannon, the show travelled to such locations as the Heard Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art, and the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...

Commissions

Cannon painted murals at the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and the

Daybreak Star Cultural Center The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center is a Native American cultural center in Seattle, Washington, described by its parent organization United Indians of All Tribes as "an urban base for Native Americans in the Seattle area." Located on ...

in Seattle, Washington, and the Santa Fe Opera Guild.

Honors

Cannon was an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire;

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

; and the United States National Park Service. In 1988 he was posthumously inducted into the

National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians The National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians (also known as American Indian Hall of Fame), established in 1952 in Anadarko, Oklahoma, is part of a complex representing American Indian life. The National Hall of Fame has bronze busts moun ...

in Anadarko.Lester 95.

Death

Tommy Wayne Cannon died in an automobile accident southeast of Santa Fe on May 8, 1978.

Notes

References

* Ellison, Rosemary (1969), "Contemporary Southern Plains Indian Art," Anadarko: Oklahoma Indian Arts and Crafts Cooperative. * Frederick, Joan (1995), ''T. C. Cannon: He Stood in the Sun,'' Flagstaff, Arizona: Northland Publishing. . * Lester, Patrick D. (1995), ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters,'' Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * Wallo, William (1990), ''T. C. Cannon: Native American (A New View of the West).'' Oklahoma City: The National Cowboy Hall of Fame. * Marshall, Ann E. (2017), ''Of God and Mortal Men: T.C. Cannon'', Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, (October, 2017),