Walking through the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, you can find several landscapes painted by Kay WalkingStick, an artist from the Cherokee Nation, including “Le Alpi e Le Gambe” and “Gioioso Variation II.” These paintings, along with other works by contemporary Indigenous artists, were added to the Eiteljorg’s collection under the leadership of former President and CEO John Vanausdall, who died Aug. 17 at the age of 68.
Vanausdall served in the role from 1996 until his retirement last year. Along with growing the Eiteljorg’s art collection, he expanded the gallery space in the museum, created fellowships for artists, and invited community members to help shape cultural programming.
WalkingStick, 89, began working with Vanausdall and the Eiteljorg in 2000, when she was a juror for the museum’s Contemporary Art Fellowship.
WalkingStick said the late CEO was a true friend, despite the pair not being particularly close. When she was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 70, WalkingStick recalls Vanausdall and the late Eiteljorg curator Jennifer McNutt, who died in 2021, visiting her at her home in Queens.
“They arrived with a bouquet of flowers, and we sat and talked for about three hours,” said WalkingStick, who now lives in Pennsylvania. “I thought that was the most generous gift that anyone could give me, to come from Indianapolis for goodness sake. I’m stunned and crushed that he has passed so young. He was a gift to the world, and especially a great gift to the Eiteljorg.”
“Le Alpi e Le Gambe” by Kay WalkingStick is in the collection at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. Credit: Provided photo/Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art 
“Gioioso Variation II,” a painting by Kay WalkingStick, is in the collection at the Eiteljorg Museum. Credit: Provided photo/Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art 
John Vanausdall, right, and Cherokee actor Wes Studi, left. The actor visited the Eiteljorg Museum in September 2021. Credit: Brittany Erwin Photography
Artist Eduardo Luna met Vanausdall in 2011, when he worked in the Eiteljorg’s cafeteria after his family moved to Indianapolis from Chicago. From the kitchen, Luna saw different programs taking place in the event hall and saw an opportunity to incorporate Latino art and culture.
After talking with Vanausdall and his team, Luna helped plan the 2014 Dia de Muertos event. The event has grown every year since, and Luna credited part of the success to Vanausdall’s willingness to hear from the community.
During his time as president and CEO, Vanausdall oversaw “major growth” in the museum’s collection of Native American, Western and contemporary art and expanded the museum’s cultural initiatives to reach a more diverse audience, according to a press release sent out following his death.
Luna said Vanausdall was ahead of his time when it came to diversity and inclusion in museums.
Vanausdall asked Luna to join the Eiteljorg’s board of directors in 2023. His favorite memory, however, was a personal one. At the Eiteljorg’s 2023 Indian Market, Luna’s 4-year-old son, Oscar, gave Vanausdall a drawing he’d made. Vanausdall was honored to accept the drawing and took time to talk with the family.
“He didn’t have to tell you he was important, you just saw that he was important,” Luna said. “He wasn’t my mentor, but he was somebody I looked up to. He was stoic, and he got things done the right way…you can only have a position of 20-plus years in one museum if you treat people the right way.”
Elias Garza Garcia started working in the Eiteljorg in 2020 as a curatorial assistant, and said Vanausdall’s strength was listening to and working with artists.
“He cared about making artists happy and respecting what their work was about,” Garza Garcia said. “He was open to ideas and took the museum through its evolution of being a traditional museum that showcased Western and Indigenous art and supported the curatorial department in trying to push boundaries.”
In a statement, Eiteljorg President and CEO Kathryn Haigh said, “This is a great loss for the Eiteljorg Museum and our entire community. I feel fortunate to have known him, and I know all of us at the Eiteljorg will try to carry on his good work.”
Mirror Indy reporter Breanna Cooper covers arts and culture. Email her at breanna.cooper@mirrorindy.org.
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