Palmer Museum to install new artwork by photographer, filmmaker Ryan RedCorn

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Visitors to the Palmer Museum of Art in the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State will soon be greeted by a new artwork in the second-floor contemporary galleries: the 10-foot-tall face of a laughing woman. The larger-than-life photograph by Osage artist, filmmaker and screenwriter Ryan RedCorn (𐓡𐓘𐓬𐓘𐓯𐓶𐓲𐓟) is a new acquisition that will be installed on Thursday, Oct. 8, the same day RedCorn visits the museum to give an artist talk in the event space at 5:30 p.m.

"I am excited to acquire 'Lakota Harden' for the Palmer's permanent collection, part of an effort to expand our collection of Native and Indigenous American art,” said Janine Yorimoto Boldt, curator of American art. “The choice to acquire the specific portrait of Lakota Harden — Native activist, community leader and well-respected elder — was informed by conversations with Penn State's Indigenous Faculty and Staff Alliance (IFSA) and with Ryan RedCorn."

“Lakota Harden had the most uproarious, almost violent, contestable, outrageous laugh,” said RedCorn, who snapped the image at an event to honor survivors of boarding schools in 2021, when he was invited to photograph by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS). As Harden rocked back and forth with laughter, RedCorn was able to catch one sharp photo where she was not blurred with movement.

The acquisition is timely. Sept. 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as “Orange Shirt Day,” a day to honor the survivors and victims of the residential boarding school system in the United States and Canada. It is also fitting because the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, only a couple hours away from University Park, was the very first boarding school for Native children in the United States.

In doing research, RedCorn found records of some of his family members being sent to the school. He also visited the site, now infamous along with others like it: The purpose of Carlisle and similar schools was to erase Indigenous culture and force assimilation, often through militaristic, harsh or violent treatment.

By the time it closed in 1918, more than 7,800 children from 140 tribes had passed through Carlisle’s doors.

When considering which print should enter the Palmer's collection, RedCorn, Boldt, and members of IFSA all agreed on the jubilant, riotous face of Harden.

“The laughing image radiates joy and is a symbol of resilience and strength, as well as a reminder of shared humanity,” said Boldt. The giant photograph will be temporarily installed in the contemporary art galleries before it becomes a key part of the reinstallation of the American art galleries next fall.

“I have a firm belief that if you are going to believe — or be made to believe — that Indigenous people are human beings, then publicly you should be able to find every facet of every type of human emotion available of them within the media and art landscape," said RedCorn.

The artist’s path to photography started early. His parents were both photographers who built a darkroom over the bathtub in their bathroom. In college, he used a tax refund from his work in carpentry to buy a Sony Digital 8 camera before getting more into photos and starting to make videos. With his photography, he tries to place the person he's photographing in a position of power, not only by virtue of making a ten-foot photograph, but by their mere existence, he said.

Lakota Harden, smiling and laughing, does just that.

RedCorn will give an artist talk at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, at the Palmer Museum of Art. American Sign Language interpretation will be provided. The talk is free and open to all.

About Ryan RedCorn

Ryan RedCorn is an Osage photographer, filmmaker, graphic designer and comedian, and was a writer/story editor and actor on FX’s critically acclaimed show "Reservation Dogs." He was born in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. He has a bachelor of arts degree in visual communications with an emphasis in graphic design from the University of Kansas and graduated with a master of fine arts in screenwriting from the Institute of American Indian Arts. He co-founded the Indigenous comedy troupe the 1491s, and started a full-service ad agency in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, called Buffalo Nickel Creative. He is a member of the Writer’s Guild of the American West. Currently, RedCorn is creating a feature documentary on the history of his Osage people.

About the Palmer Museum of Art

The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is the largest art museum collection between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and the most significant academic art museum in the state of Pennsylvania. A key element of Penn State’s land-grant mission of teaching, research and public service, the museum is a vital and accessible cultural resource for Penn State’s students, faculty and scholars, as well as for all visitors to and from the entire central Pennsylvania region. Through its world-class objects, programs and outreach, the free museum is a welcoming, inclusive and vibrant forum for authentic arts experiences that cultivates meaningful dialogue about today’s most potent ideas and pressing concerns.



An expansive 21st-century teaching museum, the Palmer Museum is a beacon for advancing the arts and humanities on Penn State’s University Park campus and throughout its diverse communities. The Palmer is dedicated to catalyzing groundbreaking research, scholarship and publications, and providing impactful, object-based learning for students of all ages. Its rewarding and thought-provoking exhibitions and programs promote visitor participation, belonging and discovery. In 2025, the Palmer was voted one of 10 winners in the national USA Today 10Best contest for Best New Museums.