Sean Chandler is an artist and enrolled member of the Aaniinen (Gros Ventre Nation). He is also the President of Aaniiih Nakoda College located on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. In 2016, Dr. Chandler was appointed to the Montana Arts Council and in 2022, he was appointed to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.
He acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Art in 1997, as well as a Master of Arts in Native American Studies in 2003 from Montana State University-Bozeman. He also attained a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership from The University of Montana in 2014.
Sean has always been involved in art, starting at an early age when his father taught him the traditional arts of his ancestors, including hide and tipi painting. Integrating those early teachings, Sean voices his own style to communicate the contemporary life he lives. Themes of racism, loneliness, depression, anger, humor, stereotypes, sovereignty, dependency and cultural genocide reside within Sean’s work.
His work has been collected by the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Yellowstone Art Museum, Missoula Art Museum and the Eiteljorg Museum. Sean was selected as one of five artists for the 2023 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship of the Eiteljorg Museum of Indianapolis, IN. He resides in Harlem, MT, where he creates most of his artwork in his home studio.
Ed.D., Educational Leadership, The University of Montana
May 2014
Dissertation: “The Identity of Upholding Indigenous Lifeways”
M.A., Native American Studies, Montana State University-Bozeman
May 2003
B.A., Art, Montana State University-Bozeman
December 1997
National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA)
-Board Member, 2022-Present
-Development Committee, 2023-Present
-Nominating Committee, 2020-2022
Montana Arts Council (MAC), State of Montana
-Council Member, 2016-Present (Currently in 2nd Term)
-Executive Committee, 2021-Present
-Folk & Traditional Arts, 2024-Present
-Arts Education Committee, 2021-Present
-Poet Laurette Committee, 2020-Present
-Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Advisory Committee, 2008-2016
-Artist’s Innovation Award Committee, 2013
Horse Capture, Joe, D, Horse Capture, George P., Sr., Chandler, Sean. (2009). From Our
Ancestors: Art of the White Clay People. Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Institute
of Arts.
Chandler, Sean (2005). Contemporary Native American Art: Reflections after Lewis and
Clark. Missoula, MT: The University of Montana Press. p. 18-21.
Chandler, Sean. (2003). “Indigenous Model of Education”. The Renaissance of American
Indian Higher Education. Benham, M.K., Stein, W.J. ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates. p. xi-xii.
The Magnitude of No One, Fine Arts Gallery, University of Montana-Western, Dillon, MT, March-April 2025
The Magnitude of No One, Marian Art Gallery, Mount Mary University, Milwaukee, WI, September-October 2024
The Magnitude of No One, Schoolhouse History and Art Center, Colstrip, MT, July 2024
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Building 5, Portland, OR, May 26, 2024 – June 1, 2024
2023 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN, November 10, 2023 – February 11, 2024
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (6 of 6), Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT, January 14 – April 5, 2024
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (5 of 6), MonDak Heritage Center, Sidney, MT, October 3 – December 2, 2023
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (4 of 6), Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT, May 26 – September 20, 2023
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (3 of 6), Helen E. Copeland Gallery, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, March 1 – April 15, 2023
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Mine-shafted, Imagine Butte Resource Center, Butte, MT, October 23 – 28, 2022
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (2 of 6), Schoolhouse History & Art Center, Colstrip, MT, September 23 – November 4, 2022
The One Defined To Be No One, MAGDA Traveling Solo Show (1 of 6), Danforth Museum of Art, Livingston, MT, June 24 – July 22, 2022
The Un-homecoming of Uncle Dirty and Jimmy Cardell: Jesse Albrecht and Sean Chandler, Yellowstone Art Museum, April-July 2022
Solo Show, Kirks’ Grocery, Billings, MT, December 2021
Extraction: Art On the Edge of the Abyss, Group Show, Kirks’ Grocery, Billings, MT, August-September 2021
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Yellowstoned, Aunt Dofe’s Gallery, Willow Creek, MT, July 2021
The One Defined To Be No One, Solo Show, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT, May-August 2021
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Sick of Winning, Tinworks Art, Bozeman, MT, July-September 2020
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Knob Festival, Fisch Haus, Wichita, KS, November 2019
Paintallica, Collaborative Installation, Last Best Conference, Missoula, MT, May 2019
Native Voices, Jane Carey Memorial Gallery, Dawson Community College, Glendive, MT, March-May 2019
Montana Triennial 2018, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT, July-October 2018
President’s Fine Art Series: Continuity and Change: Contemporary Native Art Today, Helen E. Copeland Gallery, Bozeman, MT, March-April 2015
From Our Ancestors: Art of the White Clay People, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN, January-April 2010
Worldly Views, Danforth Gallery, Livingston, MT, July-August 2006
Native American Collectors Exhibition, Helen E. Copeland Gallery, Bozeman, MT, February-March 2006
Solo Show, Museum of the Plains Indian, Browning, MT, September-October 2005
Native Reflections on Lewis & Clark, Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Missoula, MT, May-June 2005
Centennial-Bicentennial: Lewis & Clark in Perspective, Montana Museum of Art & Culture, Missoula, MT, May-August 2003
8th Native American Fine Art Invitational, Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ, February 2002-February 2003
New Art of the West 7, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN, May-August 2000
Contemporary Native American Art in Montana, Suitcase Museum, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT, 1999
Message, Myth, and Metaphor: Montana Native American Art, Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT, June-August 1999
The Language of the Land, UCROSS Gallery, UCROSS Foundation, Clearmont, WY, January-April 2025
Son of St. Aloysius, 2023, Oil, Oil Paint Stick, Charcoal on Canvas, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
When He Wouldn’t Let Himself Grieve, 2023, Oil, Oil Paint Stick, Charcoal on Canvas, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
Where Was Your Star, 2022, Oil, Oil Paint Stick, Charcoal, Graphite on Canvas, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN
Going On, Under and Over the Golden Gate, 2022, Oil, Oil Paint Stick, Charcoal on Canvas, Yellowstone Art Museum, Billings, MT
Up on the Mountain, Where They Danced, Cried, Lived and Died and Earned Their Names, 2021, Oil, Oil Paint Stick, Charcoal on Canvas, Missoula Art Museum, Missoula, MT
One-fourth Indian, 1997, Serigraph, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN
Painted Tipi, 1992, Museum of Natural History, Paris, France
UCROSS Visual Art Residency, UCROSS Foundation, Clearmont, WY, June 2023
Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN, 2023
Bronze Pencil Award for Best Painter, Montana State University-Bozeman, 1998