Frank Waln is an award winning Sicangu Lakota multi-genre music artist, public speaker and educator from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Audio Arts & Acoustics from Columbia College Chicago, where he is recognized as a notable alumni and was given the prestigious Mayor's Award for Civic Engagement upon graduating.
His impactful work has been showcased at prominent venues such as the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Linden Museum in Germany, and the Kennedy Center. His role as a curator has left a lasting imprint, notably in his design of a captivating music exhibit within the Native American Exhibition Hall at the Field Museum in Chicago. Frank Waln also curated Chicago’s first ever all Indigenous music showcase during the 2022 Pritzker Pavilion Outdoor Summer Music Series. Frank Waln has appeared on MTV, CNN, NPR, ESPN and The History Channel for his work. He has won numerous awards for his work including three Native American Music Awards and was the youngest person ever to win the Native American Music Award for Best Producer. As a writer, Frank Waln has written for numerous publications and academic journals and he was one of the contributing authors to America Ferrera’s New York Times Best Selling American Like Me.
Frank Waln's influence extends to higher education and for the last decade, he has toured colleges and universities around the world. He has been a guest lecturer in numerous college classes and has held residencies at institutions such as Stanford University and Harvard University. Frank Waln’s recent work centers his family’s experience with boarding schools which became the focus of an artist residency he held at Harvard University. In recognition of his commitment to preserving cultural heritage, Frank Waln was commissioned by Harvard University's Committee on the Arts to curate programming on campus and create new music paying tribute to his great grandmother's resilience as a survivor of Indian boarding schools. Frank Waln is currently a professor at Western Michigan University where he teaches about Indigenous music and history and audio engineering/music production. Frank Waln’s self published music is available on all streaming platforms.
