Center volunteer Esther Greenfield cements history in clay

   For fourteen years, Center volunteer and avid hiker, Esther Greenfield, has been finding and drawing historic aspen carvings, recording them in a journal during her outings. Her friend and neighbor, ceramicist Mary Kay Harrell, approached Esther two months ago asking if she would like to collaborate on a new pottery project.

    Mary Kay uses special Raku clay that can withstand extreme changes in temperature. After creating the pot, while the clay is at the right state of dryness, between wet and dry, called leather-hard clay, Esther chooses an arborglyph from her journal to carve on the pot.
   After the pots have dried thoroughly, up to a week, they are bisque fired so that they can be handled without breaking. It is at this stage that the glazing is done. The white crackle glaze is applied with a brush, using three coats to get the right thickness and coverage. The pots are then placed into the cold kiln, the door is shut tight, and the burners are lit, one by one, letting the temperature rise gradually to about 1700 degrees. 
   When the pots are smooth, shiny and glistening, the kiln is turned off letting the temperature drop slightly. Only when they are completely cooled can they be taken out to reveal the results.
   “We hope for the best,” says Esther, “you never know how they are going to turn out.”
   Each one is unique and different depending on the glaze application, and the action of the firing and the cooling process, trying to achieve the "crackle effect" that is associated with Raku pottery.
   Furthermore, Esther explains why this pottery is more than just pots. They have stories to tell. "This collection of hand-made pottery tells a story of those long-ago days of herders and cowboys who left their messages in the trees. Each pot is absolutely unique and each has carvings that reflect messages from one man to another, love and longing in the woods, wild things in the woods, poignant ‘remember me’ messages, brands and boundary markers. Many are quite old, and sadly, many will never be seen again as the trees, with their messages, are now gone."

   These pots are selling quickly, even before the price tags can be placed. To purchase these unique ceramics, please visit Dietz’s Market, the Durango Arts Center or the San Juan Mountains Association bookstore at the Public Lands Center.

CSWS volunteer and author Esther Greenfield publishes article "A powerful look at power"

Please visit this link to view Ms. Greenfield's article, originally published in the Durango Herald on November 24, 2012:

http://durangoherald.com/article/20121124/LIFESTYLE01/121129801/A-powerful-look-at-power---

Center Holiday hours and closures

Holiday hours and closures for the Center of Southwest Studies are as follows:

December 10 - 21, 2012
Delaney Library, Mon-Fri from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Museum/ Gallery open, Mon-Fri from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

December 24 – January 1, 2013: CLOSED

January 2 - 4, 2013

Delaney Library, Mon-Fri from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Museum/ Gallery open, Mon-Fri from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

We will resume normal hours January 7, 2013.

Delaney Library, Mon-Fri from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm, and Thursdays 10:00 am - 7:00 pm

Museum/ Gallery open, Mon-Fri from 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm, and Thursdays 1:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Director's Colloquium: What is the Southwest?

How do we understand the Southwest and its history? Join the Center’s director, Dr. Jay Harrison, for a discussion of the various ways peoples have defined the American Southwest from early times to the present. This talk will address popular and scholarly views that defined the region via its peoples and cultures, geographies, geology, natural and human histories, and will include perspectives which still prevail today. Rather than identifying one cohesive view of the region, Dr. Harrison will address core ideas the Center’s staff and collaborators embrace to study the Southwest in its many facets.

Jay Harrison, Ph. D. began serving as the director of the Center of Southwest Studies in August. Dr. Harrison is a working historian of the early Southwest whose research considers colonial and early national transformations of peoples and places in the greater region. His experience includes nearly seventeen years in private and public business concerns, most recently as the director of federal programs at a Washington D. C. area technology and policy firm, and has held several university and collegiate faculty appointments. This is a first of a series of conversations with Dr. Harrison about the Southwest, its peoples and cultures, and various perspectives on its study.

Refreshments will be offered beginning at 5:30 pm, with the program to begin at 6:00 pm in the Center's Lyceum. This event is free and open to the public.

Former Office of Community Services Director Honored by Palmer Land Trust

The Center of Southwest Studies is pleased to share news of former Office of Community Services director Ken Francis’ recognition in October for his extensive efforts in developing the San Juan Skyway National Scenic Byway here in southwestern Colorado. On October 3^rd the Palmer Land Trust Honor presented Mr. Francis with its Friends of Open Space Award at a dinner in Colorado Springs. Based on nominations from the public, a blue ribbon committee chose to honor Mr. Francis for work performed since the early 1990s in the development of the San Juan Skyway Corridor Management Plan (1995), and for his continuing role through the recent year as the executive director of the San Juan Skyway. Ken served as director of the Office of Community Services from 2004-2012, and as the Center's interim director from 2010, until his retirement in July 2012. We congratulate Ken on this particular honor, and for his years of dedicated service here and at large in the greater Four Corners community.

Richard B. Williams to speak at CSWS

Lynell Schalk to speak on her forthcoming book "Plunder on the Plateau: A Ranger's Fight to Save the Past"

The Center of Southwest Studies at Fort Lewis College will host a program by Lynell Schalk, “Plunder on the Plateau: A Ranger’s Fight to Save the Past”, on Wednesday, October 24th.

Lynell Schalk worked for the Department of the Interior for 28 years, spending all but one of those years with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). She was the only woman in the first group of 13 uniformed rangers who were delegated with federal law enforcement authority within the BLM. She later became the Special Agent-in-Charge, administering a federal law enforcement program on 16.5 million acres in Oregon and Washington. Her investigations across the Western U.S. included timber theft, archaeological theft and trafficking, and instances of wild lands arson, among other crimes. Lynell is finishing her book, “Plunder on the Plateau: A Ranger’s Fight to Save the Past”

Refreshments will be offered beginning at 5:30pm, with the program to begin at 6:00pm. This event is free and open to the public.