“I’m excited about being a part of a great program,” says Bryan, a painter and filmmaker. “Rolling Rez Arts prepares artists to go out into the world and be professionals.”

Jeremy Staab (Santee Sioux), First Peoples Fund program manager, knows it’s important that Bryan has the dual perspective of a practicing artist and an administrator. “Bryan’s a perfect fit for the position,” Jeremy says. “He really aligns with the mission and where the Rolling Rez Arts program is going to go. He wants to see people, and especially artists in the (local) community, succeed.”

After starting his new position in February 2017, Bryan went into the Pine Ridge Reservation community to introduce himself, to let them know about the Rolling Rez Arts mobile unit program. There is a lack of communication and technology to spread the word. He’s using the radio station, posting flyers, and going out to meet people.

“I can’t wait for the classes to start,” Bryan says, “to be immersed in everything creative and everything that is the arts, Native arts and culture.”

Originally from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Bryan enlisted in the army at age 22. Honorably discharged in 2005, he enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) the following fall. He graduated in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in moving images.

While in Santa Fe, Bryan met his future wife, Molina, and when they were dating, she came across his sketchbook. She encouraged him to pursue 2-D art, and Bryan started painting and drawing more. A year after graduating from the IAIA, Bryan and his wife, Molina, moved back to Rapid City, where she is originally from. Molina was a First Peoples Fund artist fellow last year. Through their networks, he met other artists and learned what it means to be a professional, which motivated and inspired him to branch out.

Bryan has taken his art seriously the past five years, perfecting skills and putting himself and his work out to the public. Emotional energy gets pulled into his pieces, an extension of his personal well-being that gives life to the piece. The subjects in his work are mostly detailed portraits of iconic Native American people.

His dedication paid off with awards at the Red Cloud Heritage Center Art Show, Cherokee Holiday Art Show, He Sapa Wacipi (Black Hills PowWow) Art Show, and exhibitions, projects, and representation in California, Oklahoma, Minnesota and New Mexico. But when Bryan learned of First Peoples Fund, a whole new world opened.

“They (FPF) are really reaching people on an individual level,” Bryan said. “They are hoping those individuals will reach out to their communities to do something great, to continue to do something great. Everyone wins in that mission and that goal. The individual wins, and then the community and, of course, the future generations because they’re getting all of this great knowledge.”