Richard York

Sequoyah County, Cherokee Nation

I make art to celebrate life, heal, facilitate community, initiate dialogue, connect with others, and honor my ancestors. Cherokee traditional values guide my life and my art; they teach me to honor the sacredness of spirit in all fellow beings and to help others. In my artwork these values give me a strong foundation to embrace change moving forward. I intend each artwork I make to invite viewers to go past their mind’s normal conceptions maintaining their own relationship to mindfulness and looking.

Richard D. York is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. He lives in Sequoyah County of Cherokee Nation. He has his BFA with a dual emphasis in painting and photography from Boise State University. Richard earned his MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in 2014, and is a recipient of several prestigious grants and residencies, including a feature at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, and a 2021 LIFT award and grant through the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation as one of the first cohort of 20 artists selected in this juried nationwide call for Native artists.

richarddyorkstudio.com