NELDA SCHRUPP NAMED 2020 RED EARTH HONORED ONE DURING 34TH RED EARTH FESTIVAL IN SHAWNEE
Every year during the Red Earth Festival, Red Earth bestows a significant honor upon a very deserving Native artist. Recognition as the Red Earth Honored One is one of the highest honors given in the Native art community. It is presented to a Native American master artist whose art has been substantial throughout their life.
Nelda Schrupp, from Lakota, North Dakota, has been named recipient of the 2020 Red Earth Honor One Award. The Red Earth Honored One award is given to someone who has had a significant influence on the Native American artist community To one who has continuing involvement, activity and participation in their art form. It is presented to those artists and artisans who embrace and embody the collective wisdom of their cultural experience.
Schrupp is member of the Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation. She was born the youngest of 11 children and grew up on the White Bear Indian Reservation in Carlyle, Saskatchewan, Canada.
The list of previous Honored One award winners spans 34 years. It includes some of the world’s most honored and recognized Native American artists. Archie Blackowl. Allan Houser. Doc Tate Nevaquaya. Enoch Kelly Haney. Charles Pratt. Benjamin Harjo Jr.
Schrupp received her award during the 2020 Red Earth Art Competition Awards Ceremony where several previous Honored One recipients were in attendance including Daniel Worcester, Patta LT, Clancy Gray, and Les Berryhill.
After attending various boarding schools, Schrupp immigrated to the United States where she became a US Citizen, married, and had a family. In 1990, she received a BFA Degree, majoring in Art with a concentration in Ceramics and a minor in Jewelry and Small Sculpture at the University of North Dakota. She then received a Master of Fine Arts in Metalsmithing; Jewelry and Small Sculpture in 1993.
“Art is very sacred to me. It keeps me close to my culture and my Creator,” said Schrupp. “In my culture there is no word for ‘Art,’ it simply is a way of life, a part of everyday living.”
Her art can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of the American Indian, The Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem MA, Heard Museum, Eiteljorg Museum and private collections from coast to coast.
She has been written about in periodicals and magazines that can fill sheets of paper. And she has received just as many awards for her work, as well.
