Denver's Clyfford Still exhibit curated by children

"Tell Clyfford I Said 'Hi'" is the current exhibition at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. All the works that are on view right now were hand-selected by the children of the Colville Confederated Tribes. Students from preschool to high school chose the artwork, decided how they would be displayed, and in some cases included commentary. 

"I think that everybody had their own ideas with the art and different back stories with it. I think that's what Clyfford wanted us to do," said one of the student curators. 

Even the name of the exhibit came from the children. One of the students said, "Tell Clyfford I said Hi" to the museum staff as they were leaving the school one day. 

"So for her, she'd been studying Clyfford Still's work for a couple of years at that point ... was on a first-name basis with the artist. I think, he'd become so present for these children that they assumed he was a living artist here in Denver," said Nicole Caromartie, Director of Learning & Engagement at the Clyfford Still Museum. 

Clyfford Still had a connection with the Colville Confederated Tribes. It started in 1936, when he went to the reservation to do portraits of the tribes' leaders. He was so impressed by the natural beauty of the area and the kindness of the tribes that he helped to create a summer art colony for students. He spent the summers of 1936, 1937, and 1938 on the reservation. 

"We see portraits, but we also see some of the scenes that he would have seen around the reservation, capturing the landscape, some of the structures that he was around," Caromartie said of the pieces included in the exhibit. 

The museum staff spent about 6 weeks over 2 years working with the students. The reservation is located in Washington State, so the staff traveled there several times bringing replicas of Still's work for the children, creating opportunities for the students to create their own art, and then standing back and letting them make the decisions. 

"I think the most important impact of this exhibition and the development is that kids got a sense of ownership of their work...of their words... of this space," Caromartie explained. 

In addition to a wide variety of Still's work on display and videos and commentary from the student curators, there is also a hands-on creative activity for attendees.

LINK: For Tickets & Information for "Tell Clyfford I Said 'Hi'"

"Tell Clyfford I Said 'Hi'": An Exhibition Curated by Children of the Colville Confederated Tribes is open through May 10, 2026 at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.