Memorare, Sand Creek 1864 (24" tall x 21" x 21")

The cost of the expansion of the American West was frequently paid in sacrifice and lost lives. Yet most of us scarcely know of these battles today. One such battle, now known as the Sand Creek Massacre, occurred 145 years ago this year.

On November 29, 1864, 700 American soldiers killed and mutilated 400 Cheyenne and Arapaho men, women, and children at their encampment in eastern Colorado. The unarmed inhabitants of the camp had no chance to escape.

I wanted to memorialize this event since learning of it decades ago and insisted that the piece to be a poignant reminder without sensationalism. I mulled this composition for years before finally finding my motivation in Michelangelo’s Piet . The resulting work depicts a Native American man bearing his wife’s lifeless body as he clutches two arrows and a fragment of an American flag.

This piece was featured in the November issue of Western Art Collector magazine to coincide with the 145th anniversary of this tragic chapter in American history.

I am also pleased to announce that Memorare will be placed in the collection of the Booth Western Art Museum. Please join me for the museum’s unveiling of Memorare on January 21, 2010, which will also include an screening of The Sand Creek Massacre Documentary Short by noted filmmaker Don Vasicek. I’m honored to have Memorare associated with such a fine institution.

If you would like to read more about Sand Creek, you are welcome to read excerpts from my research journal. You may also visit the Sand Creek National Monument website.