Benjamin Harjo Jr.
of Oklahoma City graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1974 with a bachelor’s in fine arts. Harjo is a Seminole and Absentee Shawnee and one of the nation’s leading American Indian artists. Harjo studied printmaking at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. After graduating from the arts institute, Harjo received a Bureau of Indian Affairs grant to attend OSU. After two years at OSU, he was drafted and served in Vietnam in 1969. Harjo returned to OSU in 1971 and graduated in 1974. After receiving his degree, Harjo moved to Tulsa, Okla., and began his art career. He gained the attention of Jim Halsey, a country music promoter and manager of guitarist Roy Clark, who bought several of his paintings and set up a mobile art gallery displaying his work. Harjo met his wife, Barbara, at an Indian art conference at Oklahoma City University. Harjo’s work has been featured in many publications, including The National Museum of American Indian, Washington DC Magazine, Southwest Art Today, Oklahoma Today and Art of the West. Several of his paintings have been purchased by private collectors and his work can be viewed in public collections, including the Fred E. Brown Collection at the Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, Red Earth Center, Gilcrease Museum, Wheelright Museum of the American Indian and the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian. During his 35-year career, Harjo has received numerous honors and awards for his artwork. In 1987, he received the Red Earth Grand Award at the Red Earth Festival. Former Oklahoma Gov. David Walters also honored Harjo
for his selection by Absolut Vodka to represent Oklahoma in its USA Today campaign. Harjo was the featured artist for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian’s Annual Aspen Benefit in 1993 and 1994. In 2002, the OSU Alumni Association named Harjo a Distinguished Alumnus. The 2005 Santa Fe Indian Market named him the Signature Artist. In 2009, the University of Oklahoma Health Center named Harjo an Oklahoma Living Treasure; and the
Native American Art Studies Association presented him with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Harjo is a member of the OSU Alumni Association and lives in Oklahoma City, where he is a selfemployed artist. He enjoys collecting books about Native American tribes and helping the OSU art department, where he has given lectures and taught workshops on printmaking.
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