An indigenous cowboy-artist from small-town Oklahoma, Tommy Wayne Cannon was born to Caddo and Kiowa parents in the Fall of 1946. Growing up he attended school in Gracemont and took an interest in the arts. As an adolescent, Cannon was self-taught in the arts and entered his works in regional art competitions through the Southern Plains Indian Museum. His success in these competitions, as well as his proficiency in multiple mediums, won him a scholarship to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was here that Cannon’s passion for art was met with an environment of tools and people that allowed for further exploration and refinement of his skills. In school, Cannon adopted his moniker “T. C.” Cannon, which is how he would be known professionally once his career began. The IAIA was not accredited as a College at the time, so Cannon enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute but was disappointed in the lack of community he had grown accustomed to at the IAIA. He dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, serving in combat in the late-stage offensives of the Vietnam War. Upon returning he attended Central State University (now UCO) in Edmond, Oklahoma where he met his wife, Barbara. Upon graduation, he produced work for a showcase alongside one of his IAIA mentors that toured the US and Europe. In preparation for his next showcase, solo at the Arbach Gallery in NYC, Cannon spent six years in his studio creating a large body of work. Tragically, just a few months prior to his showcase in May of 1978, Cannon was killed in a car accident in Santa Fe. He was only 31 years old.

TIMELINE

1946 — Born in Lawton Oklahoma
1961 — Age of 15, sold his first works to the Southern Plains Indian Museum
1964 — Enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts
1965 — The Voting Rights Act assured Native Americans right to vote
1967 — Begins tour of Vietnam under the 101st Airborne; While away, Rosemary Ellison included him in a traveling exhibition
1968 — Returns from war
1972 — Finishes his degree at Central State University in Edmond, Oklahoma, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
1972 — Included in, and toured with, a Smithsonian exhibit. Over the next six years he would go on to produce a large body of work in anticipation of his solo showcase.
1975 — Became Artist-in-Residence at Dartmouth.
1978 — Died in a car crash in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Aged 31 years old.
1978 — His showcase is posthumously  opened at the Arbach Gallery in New York
1988 — Inducted into the National Hall of Fame for Famous American Indians

REFERENCES

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Action Painting & Gestural Painting | IAIA - Action/Abstraction Redefined. (n.d.). IAIA - Action/Abstraction Redefined. https://abstraction.iaia.edu/exhibition/action-gestural/?page=3

Color Field Painting movement Overview. (n.d.). The Art Story. https://www.theartstory.org/movement/color-field-painting/

Fauntleroy, G. (2018, July 16). Perspective: T.C. Cannon [1946–1978]. Western Art & Architecture. https://westernartandarchitecture.com/august-september-2018/perspective-t-c-cannon-1946-1978

Fritz Scholder | Biography. (n.d.). Fritz Scholder official Website. http://www.fritzscholder.com/biography.php

Kapplow, H., & Kapplow, H. (2018). The Bold Yet Too-Brief Art Career of T.C. Cannon. Hyperallergic. https://hyperallergic.com/446024/tc-cannon-peabody-essex-museum/

Krutak, L. (2018, January 23). Treasures Of The Iacb: T.C. Cannon, Who Shot The Arrow, Who Killed The Sparrow (1970). U.S. Department of The Interior. https://www.doi.gov/iacb/treasures-iacb-tc-cannon-who-shot-arrow-who-killed-sparrow-1970

Levy, M. (n.d.). TC Cannon. Medic in the Green Time. http://medicinthegreentime.com/tc-cannon/

Making History: Celebrating 60 years of IAIA and 50 years of MOCNA. (2022). Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA). https://iaia.edu/making-history-celebrating-60-years-of-iaia-and-50-years-of-mocna/

New Mexico Red : T. C. Cannon : Color Field Paintings | IAIA - Action/Abstraction Redefined. (n.d.). IAIA - Action/Abstraction Redefined. https://abstraction.iaia.edu/exhibition/color-field/detail.php?artwork=t-c-cannon--new-mexico-red-1967

On Drinking Beer In Vietnam in 1967 , Edition 6-100 | Cannon, T. C. (Caddo/Kiowa). (n.d.). New Mexico Digital Collections. https://nmdigital.unm.edu/digital/collection/mcna/id/1154/

Pallant, C. (2015, March 4). The Essence of Forever. This Land Press - Made by You and Me. https://thislandpress.com/2015/03/04/the-essence-of-forever/

Purvis, R. (n.d.). SFAI and IAIA. ORBITS. https://matrix277.org/Object-61

Schjeldahl, P. (2019, April 8). T. C. Cannon’s Blazing Promise. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/15/t-c-cannons-blazing-promise-peter-schjeldahl

T.C. Cannon. (n.d.). Pierson Gallery, American Fine Art & Antiques – Tulsa, OK. https://piersongallery.com/t-c-cannon.html

TC Cannon. (n.d.). Windsor Betts. https://windsorbetts.com/artist/tc-cannon

T.C Cannon: At The Edge of America | PEM Native American Art. (n.d.). PEM | Peabody Essex Musuem. https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/t-c-cannon-at-the-edge-of-america

Watson, M. J. (n.d.). Cannon, Tommy Wayne. Oklahoma Historical Society | OHS. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CA044

Waiting for the Bus (Anadarko Princess) by T.C. Cannon.

 (n.d.). Oklahoma Arts Council. 

https://www.arts.ok.gov/art_at_the_capitol/State_Art_Collection.php?c=sac&awid=177