BOZEMAN — Wendy Red Star, a visual artist and 2004 Montana State University graduate, has been named a MacArthur Fellow, a prestigious award recognizing individuals for exceptional originality and dedication to their creative pursuits.

Known as “genius grants,” the fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provide recipients with $800,000 stipends over five years. A total of 22 individuals were announced as fellows on Oct. 1, according to the foundation.

Red Star graduated from MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and went on to receive her Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles. A member of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation, Red Star was born in Billings and grew up on a family ranch on the nearby reservation.

“I am so happy for Wendy Red Star,” said Dean Adams, dean of the MSU’s College of Arts and Architecture. “She earned this very prestigious MacArthur Fellowship through dedication to her vision and her studio practice. We are always excited by the success of our students and are immensely proud of her as an alumnus of MSU and our School of Art.”

Native themes can be found throughout her art, in which she often uses archival materials in works that challenge colonial historical narratives. Her art, sometimes featuring self-portraits, offers a different perspective on misconceptions and oversimplified portrayals, according to a statement from the MacArthur Foundation.

MSU President Waded Cruzado offered her congratulations and praised Red Star’s artwork.
“I am so very happy to see one of our former Bobcats receive this recognition,” Cruzado said. “Ms. Red Star’s art highlights the resilience and strength of her Native American heritage, and MSU is honored to count her among our university’s distinguished alumni.”

Red Star’s work has been exhibited in prominent museums across the country and overseas, including in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris.

She currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.