Wopila co-founders painter James Ayers and sculptor Craig Bergsgaard enjoyed meeting the hundreds of people who came out to enjoy the day’s events.

Toadlena Museum Show

In 2010, Ayers and Bergsgaard founded Wopila Artist Guild, resolved to give back to Native American communities that fueled artists’ inspiration.

After a trip to the historic Toadlena Trading Post and meeting the post’s proprietors, Mark Winter and Linda Larouche, they developed the idea for Honoring The Weavers in Canvas and Bronze.

Honoring the Weavers contains three works by each artist especially made for this show.

Navajo Finery

Patterns of Tradition

Safekeeping

The Chaperone

The Lesson

Saving the Day

The exhibit is located in the front museum room at the historic Toadlena Trading Post. Throughout the opening day celebration, many residents and visitors viewed the art up close and had the opportunity to speak with Ayers and Bergsgaard firsthand.

After the party had started, Ayers and Bergsgaard were asked to come up to the stage and speak about their pieces. They thanked the crowd for their support and encouragement. For these artists, it was an honor to be welcomed by the many people.

Craig Bergsgaard discusses his works for "Honoring the Weavers” at the historic Toadlena Trading Post.

James Ayers thanks the crowd and shares his painting “Safekeeping”.

Twenty percent of the proceeds from the works will be donated to the Toadlena Young Weaver’s Project, a non-profit fund administered by the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe.

Honoring the Weavers will be exhibited at the museum at the historic Toadlena Trading Post until August 21^st, 2011.

Toadlena party: Music sets the tone for a terrific day

Honoring the Weavers in Canvas and Bronze was part of a larger celebration held at the Toadlena Trading Post on June 18^th.

Every two years, the trading post hosts a huge community party, in which both residents and out-of-towners are invited. The party celebrates the culture and accomplishments of the local Navajo population. This year, attendance was between 900 and 1000 people.

The Wopila Artist Guild was honored to be included in such an important day for the residents of Toadlena.

Wes Studi, Native American actor featured in the critically acclaimed films Last of the Mohicans and Dances with Wolves, performed at the party with his band, Firecat of Discord. The band includes Wes’s wife Maura and several of their friends.

Their music was lively and entertaining—a great way to start off a party. They played several times throughout the day and each time never failed to entertain.

Wes Studi

Firecat of Discord

The crowd was also entertained by Bluegrass Cadillac, an acoustic bluegrass band from Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The band played classic bluegrass favorites including “Salty Dog.”

A day of love and commitment

The highlight of the day was the wedding of trading post proprietors Mark Winter and Linda Larouche. Mark and Linda exchanged their vows at the event, surrounded by the community the two treasure and call home.

The ceremony was elegant and moving, with a large portion of Mark and Linda’s family in attendance. Services were conducted by Linda’s sister, Roseanne.

Mark Winter and Linda Larouche exchange wedding vows, surrounded by family and friends – June 18, 2011. Master Weaver Evelyn George (left) offers a Navajo blessing to the couple

After the ceremony, the bride and groom danced a traditional Navajo dance to the musical accompaniment of the Dziłnaooiłii Travelers, a troupe of Navajo dance musicians.

The newly married couple dance a Traditional Navajo dance.

The Dziłnaooiłii Travelers

The Dziłnaooiłii Travelers encouraged all to participate in the Navajo dances. Many people enjoyed the dancing, including the members of the Wopila Artist Guild!

Artist James Ayers dances a traditional Navajo dance with Master Weaver Pamela Brown. Pamela was one of the key sources of information on the weaving lifestyle for the Wopila Artist Guild’s research.

Wopila Aritist Guild co-founder Craig Bergsgaard practices his fancy footwork with not one, but two, dancing partners!

Ayers and Bergsgaard became “Toadlena Boyz” and helped with the food and fun

One of the joys of any gathering at the historic Toadlena Trading Post is sharing the day with the Master Weavers, the grandmothers of the community who are keeping the Navajo weaving tradition alive.

Many of these living legends are getting up in years, so once the food is served, a group of volunteers called the “Toadlena Boyz” carry drinks and plates of food directly to the grandmothers so they do not have to stand in line.

Both Craig and James volunteered and were given honorary Toadlena Boyz shirts and hats to wear while toting the drinks and plates of fry bread, blue corn meal, beans, and salsa.

Wopila co-founders James Ayers and Craig Bergsgaard pose in their “Toadlena Boyz” apparel in front of their exhibit in the museum at the historic Toadlena Trading Post.

The Wopila Guild would like to thank everyone who made this day special

The work that went into planning this event was immense, and we would like to give credit where credit is due.

We thank Mark and Linda Winter for including us and our exhibit on their wedding day. Had not been for their efforts, there would not be an Honoring the Weavers exhibit today.

Mark’s son, Justin, and the staff at the trading post showed kind hospitality to the vast numbers of visitors descending upon Toadlena.

The Navajo weavers continue to inspire Wopila’s artists with their craftsmanship and skill. It was such an honor to receive real input on their art, from the people it was meant to represent.

And of course, we would like to thank the benefactors and lovers of fine art. It is only through your support that Wopila can continue to pursue its goal of funding Native American youth art education.

Honoring the Weavers in Canvas and Bronze at the museum at the historic Toadlena Trading Post runs until August 21, 2011. If you would like to purchase one of the works in the show and help fund weaving education for Navajo youth, please see our Available Artwork page.

We have now posted our gallery of painting and sculpture for our first benefit showHonoring the Weavers with Canvas and Bronze.

Work is on sale now — the pieces will be exhibited at the Toadlena Trading Post June 18 through August 21, 2011.

Twenty percent of the proceeds from all six pieces, three paintings and the first piece in the edition of each sculpture, will be donated to the Toadlena Young Weaver’s Project, a non-profit fund administered by the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe.

The works are available for presale, now, before the show begins.

Our goal is to raise the funds to help the weavers as soon as possible. These pieces will be unveiled for the weaving community of Toadlena at trading post’s bi-annual fiesta on June 18, 2011 and will be on exhibit through August 21, 2011. The public is invited to attend the festivities

Buyers of the work will be recognized by name at the party.

Would you like more information on any of the pieces available in the Honoring the Weavers with Canvas and Bronze collection?

Please call us at 602-510-3662 to reserve artwork.

We would also be happy to add you to our mailing list and send you a FREE catalog and Navajo Reservation travel planner. Please see the Free Toadlena Show Kit page for more details.

At the end of September, sculptor Craig Bergsgaard and painter James Ayers visited historic Toadlena Trading Post to show preliminary versions of the pieces that will be shown in Honoring Weavers with Canvas and Bronze, their new benefit exhibit that will open June 18, 2011.

Bergsgaard and Ayers showed their in-progress works to the Navajo weavers whose culture they are celebrating. The two artists were able to get first hand input on their depictions of early Navajo weaving and shepherding life.

Painter James Ayers shows his drawing of a Navajo weaver to Master Weaver Emily Watchman

Sculptor Craig Bergsgaard watches Master Weaver Evelyn George add a bit of clay to his work-in-process The Chaperone. Evelyn informed Craig that “The sheep needs to be fatter.”

“This trip was really valuable for me, because I was able to learn about details that I couldn’t get from secondary research,” said Bergsgaard.

“One woman came up to me and looked at my sculpture of a Navajo man on a horse and asked: ‘Where are his earrings? My grandfather always wore earrings.’ I would have never known this aspect without her input.”

Carding and spinning day at historic Toadlena Trading Post

Bergsgaard and Ayers timed their visit to coincide with the post’s carding and spinning day, an annual event where the weavers of the community card and spin their wool, catch up on news, and enjoy lunch and door prizes.

Getting into the swing of things, Ayers and Bergsgaard tried their hands at carding wool, Navajo style. The results were, shall we say, mixed at best.

“The weavers make it look so easy,” Ayers says, “but carding wool is much harder than it looks!

James Ayers tries his hand at carding wool under the tutelage of Pamela Brown, the youngest Master Weaver at historic Toadlena Trading Post

Master weaver Virginia Deal tries in vain to teach sculptor Craig Bergsgaard how to hand-spin wool Navajo style.

Would you like more information on Honoring the Weavers with Canvas and Bronze?

We would be happy to add you to our mailing list and send you a FREE catalog and Navajo Reservation travel planner. Please see the Free Toadlena Show Kit page for more details.

On June 18, 2011, Toadlena Trading Post will host the opening of Wopila Artist Guild’s first benefit show,  Honoring Weavers with Canvas and Bronze.

This show celebrates the Navajo weavers of Toadlena through a special painting and sculpture exhibit by renowned artists James Ayers and Craig Bergsgaard, co-founders of Wopila Artist Guild.

“The weavers of Toadlena are living, breathing history. Their only modernization of Navajo weaving in 350 years is the use of eyeglasses.”    ~Craig Bergsgaard, Wopila Artist Guild co-founder

Imagine working in your chosen profession using only the technology available in your great-great-great-grandmother’s era. Now imagine that using these primitive resources, you are able to produce something so masterful that it is unrivaled by any other maker – either man or machine.

Now you have a glimpse of the remarkable work of the Navajo weavers of the Toadlena Trading Post region.

These artisans weave sophisticated textiles using the same methods their ancestors have been using for over three hundred years. This painstaking process includes raising, shearing, and hand-spinning their lustrous natural-colored wools from the few remaining flocks in existence.

Long-haired white goat from a Toadlena flock flanked by a naturally colored tan sheep. Such wool colors are rare, so these flocks are prized by the local weavers.

Meeting the weavers of Toadlena

Wopila co-founders, sculptor Craig Bergsgaard and painter James Ayers, specialize in depicting imagery of people that defined the historic American West.

When the two men learned about the weavers of Toadlena, they knew that they had to see the place and meet the people for themselves.

Toadlena located in the eastern part of the Navajo reservation near Newcomb, New Mexico. The post has been operating for over 100 years and is currently run by Navajo weaving expert Mark Winter and his partner, Linda Larouche. The post serves as a mercantile, trading center, and communications hub for 150 or so weavers and their families that live in the area.

Bergsgaard and Ayers arranged a visit in April of 2010. Mark Winter, proprietor of the post since 1997, gave the artists a grand tour: they combed through the post’s museum, visited with weavers at their hogans, and toured the ancient Navajo and Anasazi ruins that dot the remote trading post region.

Navajo hogan near the Toadlena trading post.

“When I heard that Ayers and Bergsgaard were interested in creating art to honor the weavers and the traditional Navajo ways, I wanted to make sure they saw an accurate portrayal of the life lived out here,” Winter says.

When the two artists met the Toadlena weavers and their families and saw their techniques, they were floored. “Here is history, right before our eyes,” said Ayers. “Their weavings are sophisticated works of art which have harmony, balance, and rhythm.”

The artists were sobered, too, by the realization that the lifestyle is diminishing with each successive generation.

Winter explains: “Our best weavers may take anywhere between six months to two years to make just one weaving. Although we have about 45 families of passionate weavers in the area, with each generation, we have fewer people making the commitment to mastering weaving like their grandmothers did.”

Navajo weaving expert Mark Winter gives sculptor Craig Bergsgaard and painter James Ayers a lesson in textiles in the Toadlena museum on April 30, 2010.

Honoring Weavers with Canvas and Bronze is born

Over dinner in the trading post’s dining room, Winter, the artists, and Winter’s partner Linda Larouche chatted about what the show would portray.

“The idea is to create a show that will celebrate the commitment to art made by this unassuming group of people,” says Bergsgaard. “We want people to experience it for themselves so they can appreciate this unique chapter of American culture.”

The artists, founders of the philanthropic group Wopila Artist Guild, also plan to donate part of the proceeds from the sale of the show to help support the education of the newest generation of weavers at Toadlena.

“This is the perfect way for us to share our good fortune with a deserving group of young artists.” ~James Ayers

One heckuva party

On June 18, 2011, Bergsgaard and Ayers will unveil their creations directly to the residents of the Toadlena Trading Post area. All art lovers are invited to join in the festivities and meet the artists and the weavers.

“We throw a great party here every two years during our summer show,” says post manager Linda Larouche, “Actor Wes Studi’s band performs, we have tons of food, and all the weavers and local families come out to have a good time.”

Living weaving legend, Virginia Deal, demonstrates traditional wool carding.

To learn more

People interested in learning more about the show are invited to request your free show kit:

• A free show catalog
• An opening event invitation to the Toadlena show
• The Insider’s View of the Navajo Reservation vacation planner.“We have incredible scenery here once you get off of I-40,” says Winter.

Two artists want to give back

Wopila Artist Guild was organized in 2010 with a simple, yet powerful mission: help sustain traditional art forms by providing support and funds for Native American youth art education.

The brainchild of sculptor Craig Bergsgaard and painter James Ayers, Wopila was conceived at barbecue in Bergsgaard’s back yard as the two men mused about their fine art careers. The two men joked about how even the worst day in the studio is better than the “normal” jobs they both held at one time.

Wopila co-founders Craig Bergsgaard, left, and James Ayers, right

“The conversation made us think of how lucky we were to be successful in our artistic careers,” says Bergsgaard, “and how we would like to share our success with young artists to help them get a start.”

Adds Ayers: “Since Craig and I both derive great inspiration for our art from Native American cultures, doing something to encourage traditional art forms seemed like the perfect choice for giving back.”

Wopila’s first benefit show will be held in June, 2011 at the Toadlena Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation to help buy materials and supplies for young weavers.