Bear Claw and Willow

Contemporary Native American Artists by Suzanne Deats and Kitty Leaken (2012) devote an expansive chapter to Kevin Red Star.  Generous photographs share images of Kevin at work in the studio as well as of his foray in a canoe on the Crow reservation.

"Kevin Red Star was born in 1943 on the Crow Indian Reservation in Lodge Grass, Montana - the third oldest in a family of eight. His father had an abiding interest in music, and his mother is a skilled craftswoman. In this nurturing environment, Kevin developed early artistic capability.

In 1962, Kevin's formal art education began at the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) when he was selected to be among the first 150 students for this experimental Native American art school in Santa Fe. Here Kevin was exposed to various mediums and expressions of art, learning the fundamentals of art from the finest Native American teachers.

In 1974, Kevin was asked to return to IAIA to participate in their Artist-in-Residence program. While in Santa Fe, he expanded his art to include stone lithography, serigraphs and etchings. In 1965, Kevin won a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute. As a freshman, he was awarded the Governor's Trophy, and the Al and Helen Baker Award from the Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition.

Kevin continues studies at Montana State University in Bozeman and Eastern Montana College in Billings. In 1997, Kevin Red Star received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Fine Art from the Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana.

Kevin Red Star has emerged as the premier Northern Plains fine artist. Notable developments are even more exciting use of color and refined graphic design aspects in his latest work."  taken from Big Horn Galleries