Hockaday awards visual arts scholarship to Browning graduate

Browning High School graduate Adam Still Smoking has been awarded the Mark D. Norley Memorial Scholarship for Visual Arts by the Hockaday Museum of Art.   

The $1,000 scholarship recognizes an outstanding art student in any visual art medium including painting, drawing, photography, print making, 3D design, ceramics, illustration, graphic design, film/video, or costume/fashion. 

Adam Still Smoking, a Lakota and Blackfeet aspiring artist, grew up in Browning. His father, established artist Luis Still Smoking, has had a significant influence on his life, although Adam Still Smoking said that as a child, he had not considered an art career. Participating in the Paint the State Mural Contest in 2023 changed his mind and inspired him to pursue art studies.  

“I use art to express my own culture to tell meanings and stories within my art. I hope that one day after college I may inspire the idea in the community that you don’t need to be hesitant to start in art, not as a career but as a form of expression,” he wrote in his scholarship application essay. 

Along with an essay, students applying for the scholarship were asked to submit a portfolio. 

“The quality of Adam Still Smoking’s art portfolio and work, words of support from his teachers, as well as his service and commitment to his community through art are exceptional,” Hockaday Executive Director Alyssa Cordova said. “The Scholarship Committee and I are pleased and honored to present this award to such a deserving, young artist. We are excited to follow his artistic journey in college and beyond.”   

In addition to this scholarship, Adam Still Smoking received a high school Honor Society Award and has taken college-level courses at Blackfeet Community College. He plans to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to study visual art. 

The scholarship established by the Hockaday in 2021, honors Norley, a valued museum volunteer and supporter who recognized the future of arts organizations depending on introducing young people to exhibits, concerts, tours and educational opportunities.