Platt donates chair to tribal artist

Gary Platt Manufacturing has donated a one-of-a-kind chair to an exhibit of works by renowned Native Indian artist DG Smalling.

The exhibit is staged in the Sky Tower Gallery at Choctaw Casino and Resort in Durant and runs now through August.

Smalling is a Master Artist for the Choctaw Nation and the chair features his “Lady Justice” artwork, which was originally created during a National Native American Heritage Month event held by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, DC, in November 2018.

The painting’s name became the namesake for Operation Lady Justice, a US initiative formed by the Department of Justice aimed at addressing the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women.

The “Lady Justice” chair is one of several collaborations between Gary Platt and Smalling, including various chair backs featuring Smalling’s artistry and a special mask called “Spread Love,” which was created to benefit the Allied Arts Central Oklahoma Arts Relief Fund for Covid-19.