In the wee hours of Saturday, Dec. 21, 2019, Chickasaw artist Brent Greenwood sat in his front room sketching and picking out cans of spray paint. He’d need a lot of green. At the crack of dawn he started working.
On the corner of 10th and Broadway, music played from the trunk of Greenwood’s car. Below the sign reading “The Ada News,” he sprayed quickly with the help of his wife Kennetha, who tossed the right caps and cans his way. “Please get me a yellow cap. Can you find me a black cap? Hand me that green.”
Locals driving through rubbernecked, some pulling into the newspaper’s parking lot to get a better look.
“Growing up, I always saw graffiti artwork on the side of buildings, on trains. I was doing graffiti through the mid to late 80s, because that was part of the hip-hop culture and urban culture in the south side of Oklahoma City,” he explained.
But as he developed as an artist, it became more – much like the piece he completed before 9:30 a.m. that Saturday.
What materialized was this: big, black, glistening eyes looking up as a tiny, three-fingered hand sprays its own can of paint. A mist of blues, reds and oranges flowing out in ribbons toward a larger mural on the wall. A tiny, green creature dressed in a noticeably Native looking robe with half diamonds along the collar. Oversized ears perking up toward the sky.
Greenwood’s depiction of the new pop culture icon “The Child” (known colloquially as Baby Yoda) – a mysterious character from a show set in the Star Wars universe called “The Mandalorian” – represents only a few hours of work. Even so, it has created lasting and far-reaching ripples.
“There’s something about Baby Yoda. He’s got a look about him,” Greenwood said. “He looks happy but sad. He’s got an innocent, sweet look. There’s something about him people have fallen in love with, and I guess I’m no different.”
The piece, like the pop culture figure, struck a reverberating chord. This appreciation is amplified within the Native American population, according to Simon Moya-Smith, who writes for NBC news.
“Baby Yoda is each of us, when we were kids growing up at pow wows, protests, rallies and marches, or he is today’s Native baby, learning the ways of the force, fumbling and eager, yet ‘not ready.’ And, one day, babies are no longer babies, but learned adults, prepared to fight, to lead, to teach and to pass on the wisdom to the next generation,” Moya-Smith wrote in an article at NBCnews.to/37mmaE3.
About Greenwood
A native Oklahoman and contemporary artist of both Chickasaw and Ponca heritage, Greenwood was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He is a graduate in fine arts disciplines from the Institute of American Indian Arts and Oklahoma City University.
His artistic journey with the Chickasaw Nation began more than 20 years ago as a tribal artist. He started teaching at the Chickasaw Arts Academy in 2013 and was appointed Chickasaw Nation Director of Fine Arts in 2017. He now facilitates the Chickasaw Arts Academy and other programming, including arts education, outreach, workshops and student initiatives.
“I’ve been able to employ what I’ve learned over the years. We have a lot of budding young artists that just need some direction, and I know exactly where they are coming from because I was there too. So it’s cool. I am able to give advice, mentor these young artists and be there for them,” he said.
He also maintains work as an independent artist on commission. Even early in his career as a rural letter carrier with the United States Postal Service serving as a means to pay bills, he worked as an artist.
“I consider myself an artist first. That’s my passion. That’s what I love to do. That’s always going to be there,” he said.
He is known for more than his so-called graffiti art. His figurative work in vibrant acrylic paints are a staple among his creations, but he also is known for his ledger, printmaking and mixed media art. His originals and prints adorn numerous tribal facilities and even have been applied to a Pendleton blanket sold exclusively at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur.
As for his mural work and student mentorship, Greenwood said there are new plans and tempting walls in Ada and Sulphur. He hopes to spark creativity in those who view public art.
“Public art engages the community. It encourages and fosters the arts. It enhances the community, it spawns other projects, it leads to beautification. It’s visual expression for the community in a public setting,” Greenwood said. “It’s free. It’s not in a museum. You don’t have to pay to see it. It’s there if you want to see it. That’s what makes public art so great.”