Center hosts exhibit opening and textile road show

The Center of Southwest Studies proudly unveiled its newest exhibit, Woven to Wear: An Exhibition Featuring Navajo and Puebloan Textiles, on Thursday, February 7^th. With close to one hundred people in attendance, the event brought Durango’s “First Thursday Art Walk” to the Fort Lewis College campus for the first time. The evening included a gallery talk by Jackson Clark, a popular and lively speaker on the development of Navajo textiles and other Southwest Arts. Jackson pointed out the contrasts in Puebloan and Navajo weaving, and highlighted the creative aspects of Southwest textile design. Woven to Wear will display through May 2014.

Opening night in the gallery, Thursday, February 7th.

 Jackson Clark speaks to a full house at the Woven to Wear opening reception.

Inside A Room at Walpi, part of the Woven to Wear exhibit

In keeping with the exhibit’s theme, the Center also hosted a Southwest Textile Road Show on Saturday, February 9^th. A number of Center members and friends braved the cold, snowy weather to bring in textiles and rugs for evaluation, or to simply watch attendees’ treasures be presented to textile expert and Toadlena Trading Post owner, Mark Winter. Mark was instrumental in developing the Center’s Durango Collection® and still acts as an advisor to the Center in the collection’s exhibition and development. 

Mark Winter and his wife Linda evaluated rugs and textiles at the Saturday, February 9th
Southwest Textile Road Show.

Individualized evaluations took place throughout the snowy afternoon.

Road shows always have their stars and surprises, and this event was capped with the appearance of a white field banded blanket that fell into the “slave blanket” category. The term “slave blanket” is used to refer to blankets with structural aspects from one culture and design aspects from another, combined in ways that are more integral than borrowed characteristics. This piece, which was found sewn inside a quilt, was likely made on a Hispanic loom, but shows strong Navajo design traits. Its coloration and wool type closely matched one of the Durango Collection® Navajo banded blankets on view, making it a good counterpoint example to that textile. This piece proved worth the trip through the snow for road show participants who had never seen such a textile in person.

Linda inspects the unusual "slave blanket" found sewn inside a quilt.