Ben Pease
Ben Pease is an Apsáalooke · Tsétsêhéstâhese (Crow / Northern Cheyenne) artist, born in 1989 in Missoula, Montana, and raised in Lodge Grass on the Crow Reservation. His practice centers on painting and collage on antique ledger paper, Americana ephemera, and historical documents — layering acrylic, oil, sumi ink, aerosol, and digital print — and extends into installation, sculpture, and photography. He works from Creative Native Camp, Apsáalooke · Tsétsêhéstâhese Art Studio in downtown Ammalapáshkuua (Billings), Montana.
His work has been exhibited at the New-York Historical Society, the Field Museum in Chicago, the Museum of the Rockies, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Yellowstone Art Museum, and the Kennedy Center. He is a First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellow and was named the Yellowstone Art Museum's Artist of the Year in 2019.
Selected CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
American Me, Creighton Block Gallery, Big Sky, MT (2019)
People. Time: A Reflection of an Indigenous Experience, Clymer Museum, Ellensburg, WA (2018)
Before Here Was Here, Emerson Art & Culture Center, Bozeman, MT (2016)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Apsáalooke Women and Warriors, The Field Museum, Chicago, and the Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago (2020)
Heard Museum Indian Art Market, Phoenix (2020)
Santa Fe Indian Art Market (2019)
Native Nations Now, Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY (2018)
Curitiba Biennial, Brazil (2017)
Creative Indigenous Collective, University of Wyoming Art Museum (2017, 2018)
COMMISSIONS
Sculpture and façade banners, The Field Museum, Chicago (2020)
Contemporary War-Shield, Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago (2020)
Street mural for the 2020 U.S. Census, Center for Native American Youth
Berlin Wall painting, Neuwest Berlin Gallery, Germany (2019)
Murals for Billings public schools (2016)
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellowship (2019)
Yellowstone Art Museum Artist of the Year (2019) and Artist in Residence (2019)
Artist-in-Residence, Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Center of the West (2018)
Curator's Choice Award, High Desert Museum (2018)
Abu Dhabi Art Hub Residency (2017)
COLLECTIONS
New York Historical (promised gift, Hsu-Tang Collection)
Plains Indian Museum, Buffalo Bill Center of the West
Montana State University
Mulvane Art Museum
Extreme History Project
Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council
Private collections
EDUCATION
Montana State University, Bozeman
Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency
Minot State University, Minot, ND