As an artist, Dick West’s works were known as being among the finest American Indian paintings of the Great Plains.

Now, a gallery bearing his name will be a new venue for native works.

Today, the Dick West Art Gallery opens at Haskell Indian Nations University, where he attended from 1931 to 1936 and taught at from 1970 to 1977.

The gallery, in Seattle Hall, will be officially opened with a reception from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. today. West’s son, W. Rick West, will speak. Rick West is founding director of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum for the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Six of Dick West’s paintings – of Christ on the cross – will be part of the inaugural exhibition. Also on display are works by Ruthe Blalock Jones.

Dick West, a Cheyenne who also was a sculptor, died in 1996 at the age of 83. He was the first American Indian to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma, and later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the school.

Among his career highlights was creating nine of the 50 medallions cast by the Franklin Mint for its bicentennial series on the history of the American Indian.