Truman Lowe

Truman Tennis Lowe is a Ho-Chunk sculptor and installation artist living in Wisconsin. A professor of fine art at the University of Wisconsin, Lowe is the former curator of contemporary art at the National Museum of the American Indian. He is known for large site-specific installation pieces utilizing natural materials.

Background

Early life

Lowe was born in Black River Falls, Wisconsin on the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin reservation to Mabel Davis and Martin Lowe. The youngest of six siblings, Truman was thirteen years younger than his sister, Irene. Mabel worked a variety of positions as a cook at the local Mission School and as a laundress. When at home in Black River Falls, Martin was a farmer as well as traveling as a seasonal worker, picking blueberries and cranberries throughout the state. Surrounded often by close family, Winnebago was the language spoken at home. As a child, Lowe attended school at the Black River Indian Mission until grade 6, switching in 1957 to the non-Native school in Black River Falls proper.