Robert Gopher's artwork on display

From Montana State University-Northern

The artist of the Month at the Montana State University-Northern Multicultural Center is Robert Gopher. The celebration of April is titled “Powwow Days” in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Sweetgrass Society powwow.

Gopher is presenting his piece “Chief Rocky Boy,” which is a 16-by-20 inch acrylic on canvas.

Gopher is rekindling his artistic fire after a break. This piece is a portrait of Chief Rocky Boy “based on conversations I had with my mother and photographs I have seen,” he said. “Chief Rocky Boy was one of the founding fathers of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.”

“I was told he referred to my grandfather as nephew,” Gopher added.

He said the piece is a humble tribute to his ancestors for their work and sacrifices in finding and securing his homeland.

Gopher’s style is contemporary with Native and non-Native imagery, and he explains that it is all about composition and color. He added that the Renaissance painters broadened his appreciation of the arts and the post-impressionists are his inspiration.

In this particular painting, as with several others, he said, he likes to incorporate landscape, since the land and environment are connected to his Native beliefs in many ways.

He said that in many of his works he tends to include “the beauty of the Bears Paw Mountains, a place of solace and home.”