By Tom Burgher

Seaside Gallery in Pismo Beach is preparing their 5th Annual SLO-Poke Western Art Rodeo.  This fine art exhibition and sale opens at “High Noon“ on July 3 and continues through July 31.
The name for the exhibit is derived from SLO (for San Luis Obispo) POKE (think: cowpoke) Western Art (a popular genre or style of art) and Rodeo (Spanish for gathering and exhibition of skills) to emphasize the unique art that will be on display.
Seaside Gallery selected the Indian Head Nickel as the symbol for its fifth anniversary mid-summer, western art show.
Many might not have thought of this nickel’s design as “western art” nor heard it discussed as such, but as designed by James Earle Fraser in 1911, the Indian Head / Buffalo nickel simultaneously showcases the native beauty and history of the American West.
Fraser was a renowned sculptor of the west in the first half of the 20th Century. Perhaps, one of his most famous works was “End of the Trail” for which Chief Big Tree claimed to have posed. The original sculpture installed in Visalia in 1915 was later restored and moved to Oklahoma City. The original artwork was replaced with a bronze replica that still which stands in Visalia today.
It is believed that the Native American profile depicted on the coin is based on three different American Indians. Before his death, Fraser identified two of the American Indians who modeled for him as he sculpted the coin. They were Chief Iron Tail of the Lakota Sioux and Chief Two Moons of the Cheyenne.  And the third… Well, all good art embodies some mystery.
It is widely believed that the bison on the coin’s reverse side was modeled after Black Diamond, a popular buffalo at the New York Zoological Gardens. What could be more western than a depiction of the buffalo that once roamed on the range and an archetype profile of the Native Americans who first populated the continent?
More than 1.2 billion of these nickels were minted between 1913 and 1938. At 25 percent nickel and 75 percent copper, these coins have an inherent mineral value of just about 5-cents today. But as collector’s items, depending on a variety of factors, their worth ranges anywhere from $0.25 to $334,000 each. Such a spread in value based on quality and origin mimics the art market as well. The Buffalo nickel, regarded as a good luck piece by some, seems to engender a sense of nostalgia for others.

The Seaside Gallery located at 580 Cypress Street. For more information, call-773-8057 or visit www.theseasidegallery.com.