DIANA FOLSOM

I am a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and was born and raised in San Diego, California.  Nine and a half years ago I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to work as Director of Digital Collections for the Gilcrease Museum. Along with museum work, I have maintained my artist practice for many decades, studying art formally to earn a BA in Art (with minors in Music and Dance) from San Diego State University (SDSU) and an MA in Creative Art, Painting, from Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY). I lived in Los Angeles and worked at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) for 22 years where museum work and artist critique groups provided an informal framework for my ongoing artistic practice which continues through my work at the Gilcrease Museum in Oklahoma today. 

My father was a third generation Oklahoman, descended from Col. David Folsom (Northeast District Chief in Mississippi from 1826 -1830) and Loring S W Folsom (Choctaw judge in Caddo, OK). My mother’s parents were also from this region in Oklahoma and Arkansas. I am learning more each day about my deep Oklahoma roots and have been welcomed by my Tribe and by the Southeast Indian Artist Association (SEIAA).