Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Native American, 1940-2025)

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (Native American, 1940-2025)
Jaune Quick-to-See Smith a citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, was a pioneering Native American artist known for her dynamic work addressing Indigenous identity, environmental justice, and cultural myths. Born on the Flathead Reservation in St. Ignatius, Montana, Smith was of Salish, French-Cree, and Shoshone ancestry. She earned her B.A. in Art Education from Framingham State College and an M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico, where she later lived and worked. Deeply inspired by her childhood landscapes and artists like Picasso and Rauschenberg, Smith blended traditional Native art with modernist influences in painting, collage, and public art. Her work often featured personal symbols, such as her childhood horse “Cheyenne,” and explored the intersection of Native history with contemporary American life.
Smith began her career in her 30s, quickly becoming an influential artist, curator, and activist. Over her lifetime, she held more than 80 solo exhibitions and curated over 30 shows centering Indigenous voices. Her art, which often combined representational and abstract forms, confronted issues such as land rights, cultural erasure, and environmental degradation. She received numerous honors, including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters Grant, and completed major public artworks across the U.S., including contributions to the Denver International Airport and Yerba Buena Park. Through her prolific creative and activist work, Smith left a lasting legacy as one of the most important Native American artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.