Artist's Talk: Johnnie Diacon "Keeping the Ancestor's Ways Alive"

Name: Artist's Talk: Johnnie Diacon "Keeping the Ancestor's Ways Alive"
Start: 2025-04-01T18:00:00-04:00
Location: McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture

Schedule

Tue, 01 Apr, 2025 at 06:00 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture | Knoxville, TN

The lecture will be preceded by a light reception at 5 pm
The McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture and the UT English Department are proud to present an artist talk with Johnnie Diacon (Mvskoke). Diacon's artwork is showcased in the McClung's new exhibition, Homelands: Connecting to Mounds through Native Art.

📣 About the Speaker
Johnnie Diacon is an award-winning artist with nearly 40 years of experience in fine art. He was recently named a Master Artist by the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Johnnie is Muscogee (Mvskoke), Thlopthlocco Tribal Town (Raprakko Etvlwa), and Deer Clan (Ecovlke) and currently lives Tulsa, Oklahoma on the Muscogee Reservation. He is a graduate of both Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, where he studied the flat-style of Native American painting, and the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Better known for his 2D works in acrylic, oil, and watercolor, Johnnie has also done beadwork and 3d assemblages as well as sequential art for the graphic novels Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers Volume 1 and Chilocco Indian School: A Generational Story. His artwork is in various private and public collections around the world. His work can also be seen in several publications, on book covers, in videos, and they can even be seen in the sets of all three seasons of FX’s Reservation Dogs. Johnnie works in many different mediums and his work always reflects and honors the Mvskoke people.
🖼️ From the Artist:
"In the majority of my works I focus on my people, the Mvskoke, commonly referred to as Creek. I often depict my people as we are today in the 21 century, practicing our religious ceremonies as we have for thousands of years. Aside from dress, the ceremonies remain practically unchanged since the beginning when the Creator gave them to us. Our culture is a strong one that has endured many outside influences, many of which were quite brutal in their attempts to change or eliminate them. It is from this that I draw inspiration for my work. I try to depict my people in an honest and humble manner. For most non-Native people who have little to no experience with the Native People, and whose knowledge is based on Hollywood stereotypes as to what Indian culture is, I try to break this chain of misinformation. The lifeway of the Mvskoke is much different than, for example, the original people of the desert, plains, prairies, and coastal regions of this land. Our ceremonial dress, dances, and songs are not like the ones seen and heard at modern intertribal powwows, so images of the Mvskoke ceremonial ways do not always fit non-natives’ preconceived notions of what being “Indian” means. In my art I often attempt to break down cultural stereotypes by exploring the traditional stories and life ways of the Mvskoke and presenting them to the world in an artistic manner that translates in a way that is relevant and can be appreciated by both native and non-native alike, and I hope this will nurture an understanding between cultures."

Support for Homelands: Connecting to Mounds Through Native Art is provided by The Henry Luce Foundation and The Terra Foundation for American Art. Funding for the McClung Museum’s educational programming has been provided by the Knox County Tourism Consortium. Additional support for this program has been provided by the Haines-Morris Grant.