• AVRIL 2008 • Artistes Sioux Lakȟóta à Suivre !

                                             
     © Gerald Cournoyer

Gerald Cournoyer was raised in eastern South Dakota spending his summers in Manderson, South Dakota as a youth. His grandparents are Eugene LaDeaux and Bessie Kills Small and his parents are Steve Cournoyer Sr. and Pearl LaDeaux- Cournoyer. Gerald is the youngest of fourteen children. Gerald and his wife Diane have one daughter Nicole, who is currently a student at Oglala Lakota College’s Immersion School second grade class.

Gerald’s first memory of becoming an artist goes back to the second grade when he enjoyed paintings and drawings “I dreamt of being an artist and took advantage of art schools throughout middle school and high school”.

After high school, he joined the Marine Corps and upon his discharge, he enrolled at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota taking art classes. He then transferred to the Institute of American Indian Arts School in Sante Fe, New Mexico and majored in arts. He received his AA in Fine Arts from the Institute of American Indian Arts School, his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of South Dakota, and his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma.

During his early years of college, as an art student, Gerald dealt with and overcame many struggles and barriers to succeed in his passion of becoming an artist, and he interprets his cultural history into his drawing and paintings. Status Quo is a huge factor in the world of artists “Experience will teach you, in order to survive, you need to study and be prepared in the field, be true to yourself as there is a market for everyone’s work, you have to find it”.

Gerald’s artwork consists of canvas painting, and acrylic on canvas. His sources of inspiration come from other individuals such as Chuck Close, Fred Shoulder and the late Kiowan artist, TC Cannon. Chuck Close, a well-known artist from New York, made the acrylic painting popular and Gerald incorporated the style into his traditional and contemporary paintings with three-dimensional acrylic artwork. Throughout his career, Mr. Cournoyer has been recognized for his unique artistic talent and he has received numerous awards for his skills. Gerald’s portfolio includes workshops, lectures, auctions, donations, collections, and gallery presentations. Gerald has had the opportunity to travel all over the world from South Dakota to Oklahoma to Italy, New York to China and many other places to display his his quality work.

For more information on this local treasured Native American artist, you can visit his website: Gerald Cournoyer

Lakota Funds, along with First People’s Fund, will be conducting a two day Artists Training in the fall of 2011. Cournoyer will be teaching and preparing aspiring artists: how to become more disciplined with budget management, to minimize needless spending and to prepare their artwork for an art show. Gerald believes that artists should “diversify and make items affordable for customers rather than selling their artwork at a loss”. Additional topics to be discussed are: money management, opening a savings account, cost of inventory, wholesale, marketing and website management.

According to Mr. Cournoyer, “this training will use the First Peoples Fund manual and will also incorporate the values of generosity and fortitude within the curriculum”.

The Lakota Funds is a Community Development Financial Institution offering various programs including lending to individuals and businesses located on or near the Pine Ridge Reservation. Loan types include: Micro-Loans (under $5000); Business Loans up to $200,000, a Business Line Of Credit, and the Credit Builder Loan for up to $2500. Lakota Funds also provides one-on-one technical assistance as well as business classes including Financial Literacy and Business Planning. If you have questions or want to register for a class call 605.455.2500 or email tbrunsch@lakotafunds.org