Local Cherokee artist wins award

Artist Brett Stokes was recently honored in the prestigious Tahlequah, OK, 36th Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale. This was the second award received by Stokes, a lifelong resident of Fallbrook.

The award in the all juried exhibition was in a special category, Trail of Tears theme, commemorating the forced removal of Cherokee people from their ancestral lands in North Carolina to Oklahoma. Of all the groups traveling “The Trail,” over 4,000 perished.

This is the first self-portrait the artist has attempted and is a depiction of a Cherokee in period regalia, carrying the sacred fire to their new home, a visual ancestral/descendant image. Stokes was awarded “Best of Category” for that theme. Also of note is that this is the third time his work was juried into the show coveted by Indian artists nationwide.