Georginia Red Bear, known by most as Gina, was raised in Gettysburg, SD by

her parents George and Isabell Zimmerman. Gina’s mother is Lakota and father is German. She grew up in a family with one sister and four brothers.

 

While Gina grew up creating art, she wouldn’t say she was ‘good at it’ but she practiced a lot. By the time she was 13 she could create portraits that strongly resembled the people she was attempting to draw. By high school - she was creating two or three portraits a night. In the morning she was  deliver those rolled-up portraits to her classmates. When she did reports on individuals during school, she found that she often got extra credit if she also created a portrait. As an adult, Gina began to work with oil paint and pastel portraits. When she had children, most of her art work became making games or projects for Sunday school and backgrounds for children’s plays. Gina also worked a daycare for 20 years and the kids loved doing artwork.

 

In 2016, Gina’s cousin saw some of her paintings she had created for her daycare kid and asked if she could paint a couple family pictures. Using acrylics for the first time - her cousin loved her creations. Then, her mothers’ cousin asked if she could paint Mossman Church, which had burned down after standing for almost 100 years. She did and so began her new career after 40 years, she gets to have a little fun painting. It has been great fun! Gina’s favorite creations are of Lakota people. It’s rewarding to tell their stories. The children get excited to learn about their heritage and somehow colorful paintings make the picture seem more real to them, especially if they are related to that person. Her cousin asked her why she didn’t paint her whole life, her answer? She didn’t have any paint. 

 

When you raise kids you have to meet their needs so she took care of her children and doesn’t regret a minute of it, they are her treasure. Gina has never had any formal training in art and the supplies she has now were given to myself and her artist son were gifts. She uses those gifts to create - making sure she is a good steward to the gifts she receives, as a Lakota she knows you don’t waste and you are thankful.

 

Gina has placed locally in the CRST Domestic and Art Exhibit - taking the title of “Best of Show” in 2018.