The R.C. Gorman Foundation presented a check to Northern Arizona University today for $89,231 to support Native American education.
Rudolph Carl Gorman, called the “Picasso of American Indian Art,” attended the Flagstaff campus in the 1950s and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 1990. Gorman died in 2005.
“I’m thankful the legacy of my brother will carry on here in Flagstaff and at NAU,” said Donna Gormon Scott, sister of the late Native American artist, who also noted her family’s deep ties to the institution. “R.C. went here as did two of my daughters, and now my grandson, who will graduate next May.”
Lomayumtewa Ishii, chair of Applied Indigenous Studies, said he is grateful for the opportunities the funds will provide. At the family’s request, $25,000 will go toward an endowed scholarship fund in Applied Indigenous Studies.
“On behalf of the university, our faculty and students, I’d like to thank the Gorman family and Foundation for their generosity,” said Ishii. “I look forward to expanding our scholarship program and applying it to indigenous communities where it is needed most.”
The R.C. Gorman gallery also donated six Gorman lithographs that will be displayed as part of Cline Library’s Special Collections.
Following the presentation, Gorman family members joined university representatives to attend the 18th Native American Convocation and celebrate the 170 Native American students graduating.