Jean LaMarr


Jean LaMarr is a Northern Paiute/Achomawi artist and activist from California. She makes murals, prints, dioramas, sculptures, and interactive installations. She is an enrolled member of the Susanville Indian Rancheria.

Early Life

Born in Susanville, California, Jean LaMarr was given the name Pahime Gutne. Her family was poor. She created her first mural when she was in fourth grade called "Sir Frances Drake Christianizing the Indians" and the experience was meaningful to her. She experienced racism from her teachers at school and had to hide her art making when at home from her father, who wanted her to pursue a more practical occupation.

Education

LaMarr studied at San Jose City College from 1970 to 1973; at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1973 to 1976; and at the Kala Institute from 1976 to 1986. LaMarr's instructors at UC Berkeley weren't supportive of her representational art. Lamarr was attending school in San Jose during the Occupation of Alcatraz and she supported that movement. She then joined a group of artists that protested discrimination.

Career

Between 1973 and 1990 she taught at such institutions as the College of Marin, San Francisco State University, the California College of Arts and Crafts, Lassen Community College, California Correctional Center, and the Institute of American Indian Arts. Although she has been active as a muralist, she is best known for her prints. LaMarr, a member of the Susanville Indian Rancheria, was married for 37 years until his death to DeeRoy "Spence" Spencer, a Navajo veteran of the Vietnam War, and she has fought the Navajo Nation in court over the disposition of his remains. Lamarr is the founder of the Native American Graphic Workshop.

Personal life

LaMarr married Spencer Shaw, a designer, and the couple has one son. When her husband died in 2015, she battled with the Navajo Nation over where he was to be buried. The Navajo nation ruled that he must be buried in Arizona in the community in which he was born, but LaMarr argued that he wished to be buried in their Susanville community.

Works

Murals