Wendy Red Star: Her Dreams Are True by Wendy Red Star

Explore the work of contemporary artist Wendy Red Star, whose photographs, collages, and multimedia artworks bring fresh perspectives to Indigenous history, cultural identity, and the stories preserved in museum collections.

An Apsáalooke (Crow) artist, Wendy Red Star draws on historical photographs, archival materials, and her own family's history to examine how Native American people and cultures have been represented and remembered. Combining meticulous research with colorful imagery, handwritten annotations, and humor, she challenges conventional historical narratives while celebrating the richness of Apsáalooke life.

Her Dreams Are True explores the relationship between archives, personal memory, and contemporary Indigenous art. Beginning with her Crow Peace Delegation series (2014), in which she annotates 19th-century portraits of Crow leaders, the book traces connections to more recent work that reinterprets objects from the Denver Art Museum's Indigenous collections. Her Bíiluke series (2023) brings together handwritten notes and photographs of cultural objects, offering new ways to understand their histories and significance.

Through these projects, Red Star encourages readers to reconsider who tells the stories behind museum collections, how cultural objects are interpreted, and the importance of reconnecting Indigenous communities with their heritage.

Rich in visual storytelling, Her Dreams Are True is a compelling book for readers interested in contemporary art, photography, Indigenous history, and the intersection of traditional culture and modern artistic expression.

About the Artist

Wendy Red Star was born in Billings, Montana, in 1981 and lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She earned her BFA from Montana State University and her MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her first solo museum exhibition, A Scratch on the Earth, opened at the Newark Museum of Art and traveled to the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Columbus Museum of Art. Her honors include a 2018 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, a 2022 Anonymous Was A Woman Grant, and a prestigious 2024 MacArthur Fellowship.

Book Details

• Publisher: The Trout Gallery, Dickinson College

• Publication Date: December 2, 2025

• Format: Paperback

• Pages: 90

• Illustrations: 35 color illustrations

• Dimensions: 10.25" x 10.5"