AUGUST 22, 1994

CHIRICAHUA APACHE SCULPTOR, PAINTER ALLAN CAPRON HAOZOUS (HOUSER) DIED

Born near Apache, Oklahoma (OK), on June 30, 1914. Allan, at age 20, began art training at Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico (NM). With Navajo painter Gerald Nailor, he produced murals for the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., in 1939. At Fort Sill Indian School in Lawton, OK, Houser began to explore sculpture. In 1947, the Haskell Institute, Lawrence, Kansas, commissioned him to create a memorial to American Indian soldiers killed in World War II. In 1949, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship and, from 1951-62, taught and was artist in residence at the Inter-Mountain Indian School, Brigham City, Utah. In 1962, Houser helped found the Institute of American Indian Arts, leading its sculpture department until he retired in 1975. Honors: Governors Art Awards–NM (1980) and OK (1983); OK Hall of Fame (1985); National Medal of Arts (1992); and Prix de West Award (1993). Houser died Santa Fe. His sculptures are on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol and at several state capitals.

Source:  David C. Hunt, “Houser (Haozous), Allan,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.  Retrieved 10/16/2023, Houser (Haozous), Allan | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (okhistory.org)

Photo:  Don Ehrhardt, 10/16/2011. The Statue "Legends Begin." Permissive Use.