Truman Lowe

Lowe grew up in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in a Winnebago-speaking household. He attended the Black River Indian Mission School for the first six years of his elementary education. In 1969, he received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin—LaCrosse and in 1973, a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. Lowe returned to the University of Wisconsin to teach both American Indian Studies and sculpture. From 1976 to 2008, he was an art faculty member of the School of Art at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. In 1994, Lowe was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture, and in 2007, the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award. Also, he was the first curator of contemporary art for the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. Lowe is a site-specific installation artist who sculpts in wood, focusing on themes of water, trees, and bluffs.