About the Artist

(Born 1950, Choctaw) Gary White Deer, a member of the Choctaw Nation, is an internationally known painter, tribal chanter, dance leader and Professor of Choctaw Studies at Bacone College in Oklahoma.

Mr. White Deer was the subject of a feature article published by the New York Times, Washington Post and Boston Globe to name a few. White Deer has numerous art awards and honors, appeared in several documentaries and has lectured around the world.  White Deer earned First Place at the Minneapolis Indian Market and Best of Show at the American Indian Exposition.  He has held solo exhibitions in the American Embassy in Ireland, the Southern Plains Museum and the Irish Arts Center in New York.  

White Deer's paintings are marked with a beautiful sense of light, color, fun and self-deprecation.  He was influenced to paint by his late father, who would wake up out of dreams and head straight to the kitchen table to paint what he saw.

Mr. White Deer is working on his first novel, Spirits in the Rain, and is the author of a forthcoming book, Chahta Bilia Hoke: Overview of Choctaw History, which will be published by the Choctaw Nation Historical Society.