A painting from the Gilcrease Museum’s permanent collection, “Lewis and Clark with Sacajawea at the Great Falls of the Missouri, 1804” by Olaf Seltzer, was included in the official program for the presidential inauguration of Joseph R. Biden.
The actual artwork was installed Wednesday as part of the museum’s ongoing “Americans All!” exhibit.
The Seltzer painting was selected by the U.S. Senate Historical Office in partnership with the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies to accompany the essay titled, “Our Determined Democracy: Forging a More Perfect Union,” that will be used in the program. The painting illustrates Sacagawea’s role in the expedition led by Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark to explore the Louisiana Purchase and the Pacific Northwest.
It was one of seven images chosen for the program book, which will be distributed to select recipients following the inauguration.
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“Sacagawea’s role in the narrative of Lewis and Clark’s expedition is often romanticized, but her significance as an intelligent and diplomatic Agaidika Shoshone woman is crucial to this history,” said Chelsea Herr, the Jack and Maxine Zarrow curator for Indigenous art and culture at Gilcrease Museum.
“She took advantage of the opportunity to serve as an interpreter for the expedition, drawing on her fluency in both Shoshone and Hidatsa to navigate cultural terrains from North Dakota to the Pacific Ocean,” Herr said.
Gilcrease’s “Americans All!” exhibit celebrates more than 250 years of American art by 26 immigrant artists, including the Dutch-born Seltzer.
For more, visit gilcrease.org.
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James D. Watts Jr.
Scene Writer
I write primarily about the visual, performing and literary arts. Phone: 918-581-8478
