Sioux Indian Museum Announces In the Peripheral Exhibition Featuring Artwork by Monty Little

September 30, 2025          

The Sioux Indian Museum, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, announced the opening of a new exhibit, In the Peripheral, featuring Monty Little. 

The exhibition features Monty’s award-winning monotype entitled In the Peripheral, and other recent paintings and collages that showcase his unique style. The exhibition will run from September 30 through December 28, 2025.

Monty is an enrolled member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation.  He grew up in Tuba City, Arizona, and later studied architecture at Arizona State University.  He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2004, serving multiple tours in Southeast Asia and Iraq until his honorable discharge in 2008. Following his service, Monty enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  It was at the Institute that Monty began using multiple mediums for his work; combining painting, printmaking, collages, and installations.  Monty continued his studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with an MFA in Printmaking in 2023.

Monty is known for creating multi-piece artwork series such as Whispers of Geometry, Inaudible, and Consider This As Memory.  Monty creates his art by combining his own methods with traditional ones.  He derives much of his work from his military experiences, and his references to war and post-war life spill out in textured and chaotic imagery, often expressed through techniques of erasure. 

Monty’s most recent series In the Peripheral is significant to him as a Native American.  It reflects the fact that he is guided forward by the past but in his words, “I also have to have a keen sense of the peripheral and be ever aware of it.”  Monty’s wide and vigilant world view is integral to his artwork.

The Sioux Indian Museum is located in The Journey Museum, 222 New York Street, Rapid City, South Dakota, 57701.  For admission fees and hours of operation please visit https://www.doi.gov/iacb/our-museums/sioux or call (605) 394-6923.