The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Crafts Board reported in an August 2023 announcement that Louis Still Smoking participated in a special exhibition at the Museum of the Plains Indian in Browning, Montana. Still Smoking, an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Tribe born and raised on the reservation, transitioned from 11 years as a stone sculptor to focus on impressionistic realism in paintings and large-scale murals after studying at Montana State University. His works draw directly from Blackfeet culture, landscapes and history while addressing social and political themes relevant to modern Native life.
An ARTnews assessment of the 2024 art market found heightened mainstream interest in Indigenous artists, including new auction records such as a Diné painting by Emmi Whitehorse that sold for more than $177,000 at Phillips, though overall sales remained fragmented across auctions and private transactions. Still Smoking’s contributions fit within this trend through public murals that incorporate specific tribal details to spark curiosity about Blackfeet identity. The artist has completed such works in multiple Montana locations including Browning, Heart Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Bozeman.
According to a April 2021 report in the Great Falls Tribune, Still Smoking collaborated with John Isaiah Pepion on a series of murals at Heart Butte School that portray sacred sites, children in traditional dress, warriors and ancestral figures. Still Smoking told the Tribune, “Each detail is unique to Blackfeet culture, whether its the beadwork, clothing, teepees, color choice or some other cultural aspect. Context is key. Those details show who someone is and where they came from, so we want children to notice them and start asking questions about their own culture and identity.” One mural depicts chiefs including Mountain Chief, to whom both artists trace ancestry.
A 2019 Cowboys and Indians Magazine profile of the Creative Indigenous Collective quoted Still Smoking as saying, “I really try to contextualize my paintings so that the viewer can learn how diverse Native people are.” The magazine noted his earlier joint projects with wife Gina Still Smoking on textiles and fashion that highlighted issues such as missing Indigenous women through performance elements. He later stepped back from that partnership to concentrate on personal painting and mural projects influenced by the Impressionists, Lucian Freud and American Indian Movement history.
The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art presented a joint exhibition titled Within by Still Smoking and Pepion from October 2023 through March 2024 that explored internal community strengths in defining Blackfeet identity today. Still Smoking’s biography on oncaravan.org states that art has been therapeutic for him since childhood in a small reservation community where he focused on drawing and painting. His pieces often blend portraiture with cultural symbolism to express personal beliefs as a contemporary Native American.
A July 2022 article in Bozeman Magazine reported Still Smoking’s goal to move viewers and provide a voice through his art, stating, “I want to move people; have a voice in the world. If you move people you are doing your job as an artist.” The publication highlighted how his evolving practice includes 3D sculpting in materials such as granite alongside his primary work in oils and prints. Still Smoking maintains an active studio practice and participates in events such as Western Art Week in Great Falls.
