Joseph Allen has been creating and exhibiting his art for over 30 years. His photographs are in the collections of the Weisman Art Museum, the Minnesota Historical Society and the C. N. Gorman Museum, at UC Davis. He is a past recipient of a McKnight Photography fellowship, an alumnus of Intermedia Arts’ Creative Community Leadership Institute, a 2012 First Peoples Fund Artist in Business Leadership Fellow.

He is currently director of the Gizhiigin Arts Incubator in Mahnomen, MN—a project of the White Earth Nation’s economic development division. Gizhiigin supports Indigenous artists by providing services and resources to advance their artistic and entrepreneurial goals. Joseph serves on the board of directors of the Plains Arts Museum and is a former board member of the Region 2 Arts Council. Born in Eagle Butte, SD, Joseph is a citizen of the Sicangu Lakota Oyate. He also a descendant of the White Earth Ojibwe Nation where he lives in the Sugarbush Township.