Shoshone-Bannock artist uses Capitol image to inspire at RES 2026
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Shoshone-Bannock and Klamath artist Derek No-Sun Brown stands at his booth during the 2026 Reservation Economic Summit at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev., where he displayed large-format paintings, including a Capitol-inspired piece meant to reflect strength and presence.
LAS VEGAS, Nev.
Among the rows of vendor booths lining the exhibition hallways at Caesars Palace during the 2026 Reservation Economic Summit, Derek No-Sun Brown stood beside a triptych of large-format paintings, fielding questions from passersby and making his pitch to anyone who paused long enough to look.
Brown, a Shoshone-Bannock and Klamath artist from Fort Hall, Idaho, whose paternal lineage traces to the Bois Forte Chippewa Tribe of Minnesota, had traveled to Las Vegas not merely to sell art but to deliver a message.
His canvases, rich with color, layered symbolism and historical imagery, are meant to stir something in the viewer: pride, purpose and the memory of a time when Indigenous people confronted power on its own doorstep.
The centerpiece of Brown’s display at the RES conference, the nation’s largest gathering devoted to tribal economic development, was a striking black-and-white painting drawn from a historical photograph of Native men on horseback on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, surrounded by suited officials looking down at them.
To read the full article, please see the April 2, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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