Russ Tallchief

Russ Tall Chief is an Osage playwright, director, and actor, and the Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion at Oklahoma City University. His full-length play "Jacobson and the Kiowa Five" was published in "The Native American New Play Festival: A Four-Year Celebration" by NoPassport Press, Southgate, CA (2016). Most recently, his play "The Chainsaw Artist" was performed at the historic Constantine Theater in Pawhuska, OK, on the reservation where the play takes place. Last year, Tall Chief acted in the film "Lord Finn," shot entirely in Oklahoma. 2017, he played "Soldier" in Jaisey Bates' play "The Day We Were Born" at Oklahoma Contemporary. In 2015, he played "Weli" in Vicki Mooney's play "Hoop Jumper" at the Oklahoma City Civic Center. From 2000 - 2015, Tall Chief served as the Art Galleries Editor for Native Peoples Magazine. He has taught writing courses at Oklahoma colleges and universities and is in his third draft of a book about his great-aunts, the renowned Osage ballerinas Maria and Marjorie Tall Chief. Tall Chief has curated exhibitions of Native art and cultural materials throughout Oklahoma, the U.S., and Paris, France. He previously served as the Director of Arts and Exhibitions for the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum in Oklahoma City, as well as Executive Director of the Jacobson House Native Art Center in Norman. Tall Chief is a Taildancer and former Drumkeeper for the Greyhorse District of the In'lonshka Osage ceremonial dances.