George Morrison at the age of nine years old is sent to a boarding school run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, in the town of Hayward Wisconsin.

George Morrison attends Grand Marais High School; he is taught about the industrial arts. Morrison learns how to play music, woodworking and illustrations like technical drawing. He excelled in carpentry and his craftmanship became known within the town, often being called to design posters for events and functions.

Lucy Gilbert Prize, Minneapolis Art Institute.

George Morrison exhibits a portrait at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition, Saint Paul, Minnesota and was awarded the 3^rd  place Ribbon Prize.

George Morrison graduated from the Minneapolis School of Art with a BFA and received the prestigious Ethel Morrison Van Derlip scholarship to continue his studies.  

Morrison moved to New York and enrolled from 1943 to 1946 at the Art Students League (ASL). He lives in an apartment in Greenwich Village, develops artistic friendships with Cicely Aikman Franz Kline, Jackson Pollock and Marsha Marcus, Willem de Kooning, hanging out at the renowned Cedar Bar or P.J. Carney’s Pub.

“When I approached New York at night, it looked like a magical city-bridges and all of Manhattan lit up like a magical place. Always impressive. I still get the same charge when I approach it.”

George Morrison exhibited as part of the Pyramid Group at the Ashby Gallery, with Helen De Mott, Cicely Aikman, Howard Mitcham and others.  The Pyramid Group was a New York City-based artists organization founded for the purpose of providing exhibition opportunities for young artists.

George Morrison exhibited in the Critics’ Show, at Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York , he wins 4^th Prize, and his Still Life (1944) he receives positive reviews and it helps to enhance his artistic reputation.

George Morrison: Paintings, Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York NY solo.

1948 Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (Nov 13–Jan 2) group.

International Business Machines, Corp, purchases George Morrison’s Shell and Starfish, 1945 artwork.

A solo show, George Morrison: Gouaches-Oils-Drawings, takes place at Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York NY (May 2-Jun 15).

“My definition of abstraction: no longer recognizable; completely devoid of any kind of reference to realism or naturalism. In the trend of the times, people were going away from figurative work and toward so-called Abstract Expressionism. I happened to be in New York at a good time. The trend helped veer my own imagery toward abstraction.”

George Morrison receives a Fulbright Scholarship, and travels to France, to attend the University of Aix-Marseilles Aix-en-Provence, 1952–53.

A year later he exhibited in a group show at Galerie Craven, 5 Rue des Beaux-Arts and at Galerie Jeanne Bucher on Boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris. He received positive recognition in French press with a notable honorable mention from Belgian art critic and painter Michel Seuphor.

The solo show George Morrison takes place at Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York NY (Mar 6–26). He also exhibits Painting of George Morrison, at the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota-Duluth and is part of the group exhibition Contemporary American Indian Painting, M. H. DeYoung Memorial Museum, San Francisco CA (Nov 25, 1954–Jan 2, 1955). 

Morrison also exhibits at the Fourth Biennial Exhibition of Paintings and Prints from the Midwest, at the Walker Art Center. He is awarded the Purchase Prize by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Morrison’s artworks are included in the Museum of Modern Art Lending Service (1954 onwards).

The solo exhibition Paintings by George Morrison takes place at Shorter College, Rome GA (Nov 20–Dec 14).

Morrison participates in the 1956 Annual Exhibition, Sculpture, Watercolors, Drawings, at the Whitney Museum of American Art, (Apr 18–Jun 10).  The exhibition includes the artists Ruth Asawa, Alexander Calder, Adolph Gottlieb, Alexander Archipenko, Sue Fuller, and David Smith.

The town of Grand Marais honors George Morrison with a dinner and special exhibition of his paintings. He is presented with a Distinguished Citizen Award by the Cook County Historical Society.

Morrison begins a Professorship teaching painting at Dayton Art Institute, 1960–61.

His solo exhibition RECENT OILS by GEORGE MORRISON  featured “The Red Feathers” series, at Grand Central Moderns Gallery, New York, (Nov 26–Dec 15) and George Morrison Show, Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio (Jun 7–Jul 10).

The solo exhibition George Morrison Show, takes place at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio (Aug 2–6).

Morrison exhibits in a group show at the Museum of Rhode Island School of Design, and also wins First Prize, Rhode Island Arts Festival, Providence.

Morrison participates in the Invitational Exhibit of Indian Arts and Crafts, Center for Arts of Indian America, Washington DC (Nov 17–Dec 13) and receives the Grand Award.

Morrison moves back to Minnesota and takes a position at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to teach American Indian studies and art.

The George Morrison: Drawings, traveling exhibition opens at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis MN (Apr 15–May 27) and then goes on to the Heard Museum, Phoenix AZ (Jun 23–Aug 5), followed by Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christie, TX (Sep 9–Oct 8).

Morrison participates in the Ojibwe Art Expo Annuals, Bemidji Minnesota.

Morrison’s public artwork Turning the Feather Around: A Mural for the Indian, 1974–1975. Morrison created a wood construction that is 94 feet long and 17 feet high, made from Western Red Cedar in 1974–75. The artwork forms the exterior façade of The American Indian Center in Minneapolis. Morrison is commissioned by his friend Ron Libertus on this project 

“My design for the facade was taken from a feather. I think all Indians have connections to birds and their feathers, using them in symbolic ways. My sources were varied, inspired by chevron shapes. When you look at my design, with its geometric form, it isn’t a realistic rendering of a feather, but it derives from the feather.”

Morrison becomes a Trustee of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1977–1983.

Morrison is the subject of a book titled GEORGE MORRISON: The Story of an American Indian, by Dragos Kostich, published by Dillon Press, Minneapolis.

Morrison exhibits in The Native American Heritage: A Survey of North American Indian Art, at the Art Institute Chicago (Jul 16–Oct 30). 

Morrison is invited to visit Cuba on a cultural exchange program with the exhibition “E1 Autentico Pueblo,” Casa de las Americas, Havana, Cuba.

Morrison’s solo exhibition Wood Collage Impressions opens at the Carl N. Gorman Museum, University of California, Davis, CA (Mar 16–Apr 13).

In the late 1970s Morrison and Hazel build and establish their home and Red Rock studio on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation.

“We looked all around here for a place to live; the idea was to retire up here. We looked all around on the reservation shores, found this place, and called it Red Rock because of the kind of rock, jasper, that’s around here. It’s part of my magic.”

Morrison exhibits as part of Magic Images: Contemporary Native American Art, ’81, at the Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa OK (Aug 2–Sept 6). He had applied to exhibit at the Philbrook Art Center in the late 1940s but was rejected at the time. 

Morrison also participates in group shows at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Kuopio Museum, Kuopio, Museum of the Southwest, Texas, Dayton Art Institute, and the Santa Fe Arts Festival.

Morrison retires from the University of Minnesota and moves back to Grand Portage. 

Retirement honor: Drawing Retrospective, “Entries in an Artist’s Journal,” University Museum of Art, University of Minnesota; and George Morrison: Paper Collages, The President’s Office, Morrill Hall, University of Minnesota.

"Retiring from twenty-five years of teaching I now want to devote my full life and time to creative work – at a home/studio near where I was born, on the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota.

In reviewing my past, I feel that I had a rich and varied artistic life: success in gaining scholarships for travel and study; the opportunity to reap the experiences, influences and rewards of 20 years in a major art city, New York; success and accomplishment with one-man, group and invitational exhibitions across this country and abroad; represented  in some major collections; and connection with good schools”

Morrison’s solo exhibition HORIZON: Small Painting Series, 1980–1987, opens at the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jul 10–Jul 19), then travels to Minnesota Museum of Art, St. Paul MN (Nov 14–Jan 17).

Morrison’s solo exhibition Standing in the Northern Lights: George Morrison, a Retrospective, opens at The Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul (May 6–Jun 24); the travels on to the Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota-Duluth (Jul 28–Sep 9); then Plains Art Museum, Moorhead MN (Sep 28–Nov 25).

Morrison exhibits in Frank BigBear, George Morrison, Daniel Soderlind, Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis MN (Mar 2–Apr 14).

George Morrison’s public artwork Tableau, A Native American Mosaic is installed on the Nicollet Mall, downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The sidewalk installation consisted of 200 pieces of stone in 14 different colors. The mosaic is made up of geometric and bio-morphic shapes that form Native American motifs such as plant, floral, animal, figure, snake, and bird images.

His solo exhibition, Drawings and Small Sculpture, opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis MN.

Morrison is part of the Jaune Quick-to-See Smith curated exhibit We The Human Beings: 27 Contemporary Native American Artists.  The exhibition included the artwork of Marty Avrett,  Margarete Bagshaw-Tindel, Michael Brown, Ron Carraher, Jeffrey Chapman, Corwin Clairmont, Jesse Cooday, Darnella Davis, Joe Feddersen, Harry Fonseca, Ted Garner,  Carm Little Turtle, George Longfish, Truman Lowe, Mario Martinez, Larry McNeil,  Leatrice Mikkelsen, George Morrison, Ernie Pepion, Jolene Rickard, Beverly Singer, Duane Slick, Jeffrey M. Thomas, Kay Walkingstick, Ernest M. Whiteman, Jim Yellowhawk, Phil Young.  The traveling exhibit opened at The College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster OH (Aug 26–Oct 19, 1992); the traveled on to the following institutions Carlsten Art Gallery, Stevens WI (Nov 15–Dec 15 1992); The Riffe Gallery, Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts, Columbus OH (Jan 23–Mar 13, 1993); Eiteljorg Museum of American Indian and Western Art, Indianapolis IN (Apr 7–Jun 27, 1993); The Museum at Hartwick College, Oneonta NY (Sept 1999–Oct 27, 1993); Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, University of Illinois, Champaign IL (Nov 19, 1993–Jan 99999, 1994); Roland Gibson Gallery, Potsdam College of the State University of New York, Potsdam NY (Feb 25–Mar 25, 1994).

George Morrison exhibits and is honored in Twentieth Century American Sculpture at the White House: Honoring Native America Exhibit VI, curated by Margaret Archuleta, Washington DC.

Morrison is part of the Inaugural Exhibit: Contemporary Native American Fine Art, held in the Crossroads Gallery, at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ (Feb 28). He also receives the Inaugural Eiteljorg Fellowship for Native American Fine Art Master Artist, Indianapolis IN, awarded in November 1999.

Morrison is included alongside artists Rick Bartow, Joe Feddersen, Fred Kabotie, Helen Hardin, Norman Akers, Andrew Van Tsinajinnie, Patrick Robert Desjarlait, George Morrison, Carl Sweezy, Faye Heavyshield, and Truman Lowe in So Fine! Masterworks of Fine Art from the Heard Museum, at the Heard Museum, Phoenix AZ (Nov 2, 2002–Mar 9, 2003).  The exhibition was curated by Ann E. Marshall and Guest Curator Kay WalkingStick.

George Morrison Works on Paper: 1944–99, opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis Minnesota (Mar 18–Apr 22).

George Morrison Drawings: 1980s and 1990s, opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis Minnesota (Apr 11–May 16).

The New York School opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis (May 14–Jun 11).

The Drawing at the Horizon exhibition opens at the Duluth Art Institute, Duluth MN (Nov 14, 2014–Feb 8, 2015).

The Beauty Speaks for Us, exhibition curated by Ann Marshall and guest curators, Carol Ann Mackay and Janis Lyon, opens at the Heard Museum Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ (Feb 10–Mar 31).

George Morrison in Focus, curated by Robert Cozzolino and Jill Alhberg Yohe, opens at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minnesota, (Oct 21, 2017–July 1, 2018).

The Action/Abstraction Redefined: Modern Native Art, 1940s–1970s, curated by Manuela Well-Off-Man, Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer, and Lara Evans, IAIA MoNA, Santa Fe NM (July 28, 2017–July 7, 2019), group. Later travels to Cahoon Museum of American Art, Cotuit MA (March 1–May 21, 2022); Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO (July 29, 2022–January 7, 2023); Westmoreland Museum of American Art, PA (February 26–May 21, 2023); Saint Louis Art Museum (June 25–September 4, 2023); Schingoethe Center, Aurora University, IL (October 2, 2023–January 7, 2024); Arkansas Arts Center, AR (February 14–May 12, 2024).

George Morrison opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis MN (Sep 12–Oct 19).

Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting, opens at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, New York City (Nov 16, 2019–Jan 2, 2022).

In April 2022, George Morrison was honored and celebrated, when his artwork was featured on United States Postal Service Forever Stamps.

George Morrison: Traversal, opens at Bockley Gallery, Minneapolis MN (Nov 12–Dec).

Smoke in Our Hair: Native Memory and Unsettled Time, Hudson River Museum, Yonkers NY (Feb 14–Aug 31)

The Magical City: George Morrison’s New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC (Jul 17–May 31). 

Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Detroit MI (Sep 28–Apr 5).

An Indigenous Present, curated by Jeffrey Gibson and Jenelle Porter, ICA Boston (October 9, 2025–March 8, 2026).