An ambassador and artist from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma is coming to Broomfield this month to discuss his creative process and share ideas for his upcoming mural that will be featured in the county.

Brent Learned will visit Broomfield for an event from 6-8 p.m. April 16 at the Broomfield Library, 3 Community Park Road, that will include a meet-and-greet followed by a discussion of Learned’s artistic vision for the mural. During the event, participants will have an opportunity to make their own artistic creations. The event is free and registration is not required.

The City and County of Broomfield enlisted the award-winning Native American artist to create the mural that will be displayed at 120th Avenue and Highway 287, near the current mental health-focused murals, according to city documents. The mural, aiming to honor the Cheyenne and Arapaho people and their connection to the land, is set for installation this summer.Learned is a lifelong artist and member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes located in Western Oklahoma. Following the Sand Creek Massacre in 1864 — a massacre of Indigenous people by the U.S. Army to remove them from the Front Range and Eastern Plains — the Cheyenne and Arapaho people were forced to leave Colorado.

His work spans many artistic styles, but he’s most well-known for his bright and contemporary works depicting Indigenous figures, oftentimes mixing in pop art aspects. Over the years, his art has been featured in various Colorado exhibits, including Boulder’s Dairy Arts Center, Museum of Boulder and at the University of Colorado Boulder

“Sometimes (in a painting) a buffalo is just a buffalo, but sometimes it tells a story,” Learned said. “Sometimes you can look at a painting and it takes you to that place where you feel like you’re not only a spectator, but you’re also a participant in it.”

In art, Learned said, countless stories need to be told — and the best one to tell is your own.

“My mom always instilled in me to paint the Cheyenne and Arapaho,” Learned said. “She told me ‘there’s a lot of stories that need to be told, and that’s who you are — tell those stories.”

Learned said he sees himself as an ambassador for his people, teaching others about their history and telling their stories. Learned said that with the country’s history of erasing much of the Indigenous culture, his work to preserve it is all the more crucial.

“For me to go out is keeping my culture and heritage alive, and it’s keeping the voices of my ancestors alive, because they didn’t have a voice,” he said. “The things that they grew up with at their time were slowly being taken away from them and they were slowly being assimilated.”

Learned’s work seeks to share the stories of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes and to fight back against ideals that would erase their culture.

“They used to say ‘kill the Indian, save the man,’ and through assimilation, a lot of people have forgotten who they were,” he said. “(Through art) you get that refresher of rediscovering a little bit about yourself.”

By coming to Broomfield and sharing his art with people on the Front Range, he said he’s hoping to bring knowledge and stories to a wider audience, and to pay homage to the Cheyenne and Arapaho people who once called it home.

“As a painter and kind of historian, I’m telling (Cheyenne and Arapaho) stories and giving them a voice,” Learned said. “You have to know where you came from to know where you’re going in life.”