GLEN LA FONTAINE

- GLEN LA FONTAINE -

Cree/Chippewa, 1947—

Glen La Fontaine is a Native American artist of Cree–Chippewa heritage, born in Seattle. He began his formal training at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe (1968–1970), where he immersed himself in Indigenous art traditions and contemporary influences. He further honed his craft at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, studying there from 1970 to 1973. During this period, Fontaine developed a distinctive voice in ceramics, integrating traditional Indigenous forms and motifs with modern sculptural expression.

By 1976, Fontaine had garnered significant recognition, earning a solo exhibition at the Amon Carter Museum of Western Art in Fort Worth—a rare honor for a Native American artist at the time. In 1978, he completed one of his most ambitious works: The Red Race, an expansive 8 × 10-foot ceramic wall mural made up of more than 90 hand-painted and carved tiles depicting various aspects of Plains Indigenous life. 

Following the first half of the 1980s, Fontaine took a deliberate hiatus from the art world until the early 1990s—resurfacing with renewed creative energy and continuing to exhibit up through the mid‑1980s. Examples of his work from this period include imaginative ceramic sculpture—such as animal and figure forms painted with rich pigments. He has maintained residence in Portland, Oregon, and continues to produce new works.

Fontaine’s career milestone at the Amon Carter Museum underscores his work’s lasting impact. La Fontaine remains a figure of note in the American ceramics canon, likely featured in numerous private collections and rotating exhibitions.