Frank Waln is an award-winning Sicangu-Lakota musician and educator from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Frank uses his music to speak about social issues and injustices affecting the Native community and as a method for healing.
Frank’s year-long residency at ArtLab and commission from the Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) occurred in two phases in 2023-24. In Fall 2023, he presented “Wókiksuye: Honoring Our Ancestors and Relatives Through Music,” a work-in-progress performance on piano, with vocals and storytelling. HUCA also commissioned Frank to create a public artwork, which took shape as a participatory performance on campus in Spring 2024. Working with students and staff from the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP), he led “We Gather in the Spring to Help in Our Healing/Waná Wétu Owíčhota Owášta,” a gathering based on the Lakota Wiping of the Tears ceremony to bring together Native members of the Harvard Community.
A recipient of the Gates Millennium Scholarship, Frank attended Columbia College Chicago, where he received a BA in Audio Arts and Acoustics. His awards include three Native American Music Awards, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development 2014 Native American 40 Under 40, the 2014 Chicago Mayor’s Award for Civic Engagement, and the 2016 3Arts Grant for Chicago Artists. Frank has been featured in Buzzfeed, The Fader, Playboy, Vibe, NPR, ESPN, and MTV’s Rebel Music Native America. He has written for various publications, including Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education, and Society, and The Guardian. Frank travels the world telling his story through performance and doing workshops focusing on self-empowerment and expression of truth.
This residency is in collaboration with the Harvard University Committee on the Arts (HUCA) and the Harvard University Native American Program (HUNAP).