Founders, 2019, polyester blend fabric, dye sublimation, air blowers, hardware, 25’x35’x34’
Founders is a mobile monument and collaboration between Floating Museum, Chris Pappan (Kanza/Osage, Lakota) and Monica Rickert-Bolter (Potawatomi/African-American/German). The inflatable sculpture features four busts facing the four cardinal directions. The form is a mix of interpretations of items from the collections of the DuSable Museum of African American History, the Field Museum of Natural History, as well as interpretations of various historical figures. The busts reference Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable (Chicago’s first non-indigenous settler), Kitihawa (du Sable’s Potawatomi wife), Harold Washington (first African American Mayor of Chicago), and a bust of a young boy by artist William Artis. The pattern on the inflatable monument was inspired by Potawatomi textiles in the Field Museum collections.
Founders pops up in community sites throughout Chicago as part of Floating Museum’s summer programming. The sculpture is part of a series by Floating Museum highlighting historical figures that elevate the stories of indigenous people and people of color, honoring the often-overlooked roles they’ve had in shaping our contemporary world.
Floating Museum would like to give a special thanks to our exhibition committee who advised on the sculpture: Alaka Wali, Debra Yepa-Pappan, Kate Swisher, and Etzer Cantave.
Lead Artists /
Chris Pappan is an enrolled member of the Kaw Nation and honors his Osage and Lakota heritage. His cited artistic influences are the Lowbrow art movement, Heavy Metal and Juxtapoz magazines, and taps into the American cultural roots of 1970s underground comics, punk, and hot rod cultures. His art literally reflects the dominant culture’s distorted perceptions of Native peoples and is based on the Plains Native art tradition known as Ledger Art. A graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and a nationally recognized painter and ledger artist, Chris’ work is in numerous museums such as the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington D.C.; the Tia collection in Santa Fe NM and the Speed Museum of Art in Louisville KY among many other important collections both nationally and internationally. He is represented by Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe NM.
Chris is currently a board member and co-founder of the Center for Native Futures, a Native American gallery and studio space in Chicago’s Loop. He lives and works in Chicago with his wife Debra Yepa-Pappan, and their daughter Ji Hae.
︎chrispappan.com
︎centerfornativefutures.org
Monica Rickert-Bolter is a Chicago-based visual artist of Potawatomi and Black heritage. Her artwork uses traditional mediums, such as charcoal and pastels, graphic design, and digital coloring to create expressive characters and tell diverse stories. After her undergrad, Monica became involved with Native nonprofits, combining her love of art and education to develop youth programs and resources, including illustrating children’s books.
Monica is a co-founder and the Director of Operations at the Center for Native Futures, a Native fine arts gallery that opened in September 2023. Her artwork has been featured in exhibitions at The National Museum of the American Indian, The Field Museum, the University of North Carolina Stone Center, The Watershed Art & Ecology, the National Public Housing Museum, and the Center for Native Futures. Her upcoming collaborative projects include a public art piece with the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights and an Afro-Indigenous Futurist graphic novel with her brother Joel Rickert.
︎monicarickertbolter.com
︎centerfornativefutures.org
More to read /
“Wonder what this is?”
by Darcel Rockett for the Chicago Tribune
“'The Founders' Art Project Connects Communities Along the CTA Green Line”
by Angel Idowu for WTTW
