World-renowned Blackfeet artist Terrance Guardipee visits local schools

By Kim Swaney

This group of students from K. Wm. Harvey Elementary gives Terrance one of their art projects to hold while they pose with him. (Kim Swaney photo)

RONAN — When Terrance Guardipee woke from his powerful dream, one he equates to a vision - he knew his life was about to change. Now, years later it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy for the talented Blackfeet artist.

The message he received from his dream was that if he believed in the Creator and believed in the gift he was given, it would take him far from home, and he would never fail.

Recently, Terrance traveled here to visit with students in the Ronan-Pablo School District about his art and how to be successful.

Leaving his native homeland, which he refers to as the backbone of world on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in northwestern Montana and Glacier National Park, Guardipee has literally gone a long ways.

"By the time I was 18, I had buried six of my best friends. Death was a normal thing," says Terrance. Guardipee says that drinking had claimed his friends' lives and that didn't include the older students whom he graduated with from the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He quietly thinks for a moment and estimates that nearly a half-dozen more had died because of alcohol.

His ledger art has gained international recognition. He has artwork in Italy, France, Japan, Switzerland, the Museum of Natural History in Hanover, Germany; and numerous places in the United States. He currently has 36 pieces of artwork in the Smithsonian Museum.

Guardipee credits his creator first and his companion Catherine Blackhorse for helping him along the way.

"I would not be as far as I am without Catherine. She's been the foundation," admits Guardipee.

Terrance, Catherine and their 17-year-old daughter Bree, will participate in the 49th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market on March 3-4, 2007. The weekend affair brings more than 18,000 visitors and approximately 600 Indian artists to Phoenix, Arizona.

Catherine's words of encouragement are almost contagious. While she stands mostly in the background during Terrance's recent visit, she never stops challenging individuals to take the risk and do things.

"The biggest thing is fear. Take the risk - apply to that college or art show," encourages Catherine.

Catherine attended college, but not for her art and it didn't stop her from becoming a noted textile designer.

As for their oldest daughter Bree, her mother says she's an excellent student and is also an artist. She works for Nordstrom's Retail store and they have offered to help her with her college goals. She is currently the reigning princess for Gonzaga University and will give up her crown at the annual Unity in Spirit powwow in Spokane, Washington, March 31-April 1, 2007.

Their other daughter Victoria is 15 years old and a jingle dancer. The younger sibling is also a member of royalty, too - Miss Daybreak Star.

"We've never helped them with their homework and we've never had to wake them up for school," boasts Catherine. For the parents life isn't much different from anyone else's, but they claim giving their teen-age daughters freedom to choose and to be responsible for their own actions as the core in their upbringing.

Guardipee actively listens to the students' questions and offers explanations. He engages students - no matter what grade. He tells the students he has been drawing since he was in the third grade and he didn't like people to see his artwork and he would hide it.

"That's what I'm gonna be when I grow up," says a beaming Marissa who is in Mr. Kohler's first-grade class.

In the classroom and in the hallway the ranting and raving continued, "My son is autistic. He had so many questions for him, he just loved it," says Tracy who is student teaching at K. Wm. Harvey Elementary. "I just love the way he weaves his art into theirs," says Molly, who is also doing her student teaching at Ronan.

"Break the mold. Shed your skin. Change your environment," offers Guardipee to those out there contemplating the future. Guardipee says when your a professional artist, there can be a lot of opening and closing parties that can make a person polluted. He stepped off that path a long time ago and he hasn't ever looked back.