Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is the first Native American artist to have her work acquired by a national gallery.

Get ready to feel the outrage when you realize this purchase only happened in 2020, when The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. finally welcomed I See Red: Target into their collection. Smith, like many of us when we first heard this, was shocked to realize there had not been another Native American artist whose work had been purchased by a national museum. It’s no wonder her body of work often deals with the alienation of Native Americans in the United States. Like, obvi. 

It’s thanks to her dad that Smith began dabbling in art from a young age. As a young girl, Her artwork were created by drawing in the dirt with sticks, and using rocks to make things. There was even a time in her teenage years that she dressed as Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. And yes, she wore a beard, beret, and held onto a paint palette.

Smith was born on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Reservation when her mother was only fifteen. Smith's name is as unique as a thumbprint, as a snowflake, as the artist herself. Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Not Jane or Juan, and it sounds like yawn. It’s a unique name that hails from the French word for yellow, and Quick-to-See, which, from her grandmother, means “insight, perception.”

Horses feature plenty in Smith’s artworks. They’re a frequent motif, influenced by her father, a horse trader, and rodeo rider. That isn’t the only influence he’s had on his daughter. Her father often worked around the house, fixing the roof, shingles, and fences, and she cites him as being one of her early inspirations. There have been corrals the father and daughter duo built together which remain treasured sculptures to Smith. The family traveled up and down the West Coast, moving houses about fifty times thanks to her father’s work with horses. Not a bad way to see the country. 

When school was out, Smith labored as a migrant farmworker. Every student needs a job or two while they’re completing college, and Smith definitely had her plate full. She had a mismatch of odd jobs as she worked towards finishing her bachelor’s degree in art education and raising three kids: waitress, pre-school teacher, factory worker, bookkeeper, housemaid, librarian, janitor, veterinary assistant, and secretary. On top of working and raising three kids, the naysayers out there tried to deter her. In ’58, there was a professor who informed Smith that females couldn’t be artists. Instead of telling this braindead dude to go stick it where the sun don’t shine, Smith enrolled in a master’s degree program (which took her twenty-two years to finish) and invested full-time in artmaking. Smith became politically vocal at the 500^th anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, and used Barbie and Ken figurines to artistically express her protest.

Smith is green-minded when it comes to making art. She’s not just recycling dolls. The artist, who grew up in rural reservations, uses biodegradable materials in her artwork. Don’t be shocked to see charcoal and rag paper making an appearance. It’s part of her roots to be concerned for the environment, as she grew up learning that taking care of the land was an important responsibility. 

She's also never slowed down in her art practice. In the last four decades, she has been part of 680 group exhibitions and rocked 125 solo exhibitions. Why stop now? The National Gallery purchase is but one step toward the recognition of Native American artists in the art world.