Q: This late Kansas artist created the corporate logo used by the Wolf Creek Generating Station, also known as the Wolf Creek nuclear power plant. What’s his name?
Hint: This Native American sculptor and painter is best remembered for creating the Keeper of the Plains, the iconic 44-foot tall steel sculpture in Wichita.
A: Blackbear Bosin
Francis Blackbear Bosin, a Comanche-Kiowa sculptor and painter, was born June 5, 1921, in Oklahoma. His Kiowa name, Tsate Kongia, means "Blackbear" and belonged to his grandfather, a Kiowa chief.
In 1940, Bosin graduated from Cyril High School and moved to Wichita. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served during World War II. In Kansas, he worked for Western Lithograph and as an artist for Boeing. Mostly self-taught, Bosin combined Southern Plains flat style painting with surrealism. His first solo exhibition was in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1945.
Ten years later, National Geographic featured his highly-regarded painting, Prairie Fire. Erected in 1974, his iconic sculpture, The Keeper of the Plains, sits at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers in Wichita and depicts a Native American warrior offering a blessing to the sky. Bosin also created the corporate logo for the Wolf Creek Generating Station in Burlington, Kansas. He died in 1980.
Today's Kansas Trivia Question is brought to you by Yello Sub in Lawrence, where all your sub sand-wishes come true!