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Marti's Final Southwestern Journey - June 7 – 14, 2012


I’m delighted to put together a 2012 Southwest field trip and, responding to some of your suggestions, I’ve created a shorter, yet still exciting journey.  This trip will take us onto the Navajo reservation to attend a famous rug auction, then travel north to meet a talented family of Navajo artists who work in their home studio.  We then drive to Taos where a noted New Mexico historian will unfold a story of the remarkable events that occurred in this community.  Among other events, we will view prize-winning rugs at Toadlena Trading Post, visit workshops and homes of jewelers, and meet with a noted santero. 

Here are more details:

•    On our first day, we drive to Gallup to meet with legendary trader, Bill Malone, who will lead a show-and-tell session on Navajo rugs, past and present.  Perry Shorty will be on hand with his exquisite silver jewelry.  Later in the day, we drive to Crown Point to attend a Navajo rug auction. 

•    At the famous Crown Point Auction, rugs are brought in the same day by the weavers . . . if we like a rug, we’re buying directly from the weavers themselves.  Actually, the Crown Point event is an important social event for reservation Navajos and there will be much trading, selling and festivity going on all around us. 

•    Driving north to Shiprock, we meet the Lee family of jewelers.  Albert Lee carves beads of coral, turquoise, and other stones, while his brother, Alfred, works in silver to create bracelets and rings.  They are planning a lunch for us and will take us to their traditional family sheep ranch near the famous Shiprock landform. 

•    We drive south to Toadlena, an authentic trading post in the vicinity of which some of the most talented Navajo weavers live, selling their work at Toadlena.  Mark & Linda Winter have invited a number of weavers in the Two Gray Hills tradition to have lunch and speak with us.  Some of today’s finest tapestries are woven here.

•    We travel to Taos where a leading New Mexico scholar will describe the remarkable history of this famed community.  Later, Gustavo Victor Goler, a much celebrated carver of saint figures, will meet us in his Taos studio.  He will show us his recent work and describe why the santero tradition is so important to New Mexico history. 

•     Back in Santa Fe, we gather at my home after breakfast where the renowned silversmith, McKee Platero, will show us some of his most recent work.  He will bring along one of his hand-constructed dies for us to learn more about this complex yet traditional way of creating silver jewelry. 

•    For a dramatically contrastive look at contemporary jewelry, we drive to San Felipe Pueblo to visit father and son artists, Richard & Jared Chavez.  Once again, Sharon Chavez promises us one of her special lunches. 

•    Visit LuAnn Tafoya, a legendary potter at Santa Clara Pueblo and daughter of Margaret Tafoya.  LuAnn’s work features highly polished, traditional Santa Clara jars.  She will be joined in a pottery firing by her son, Daryl Whitegeese whose pottery is now achieving major recognition. 

Participants arrive in Albuquerque on June 7.  We will meet you at the airport and take you to the Hotel Albuquerque in Old Town.  Please plan to arrive by 4:00pm.  Lodging the last evening of the trip, June 13, will be at the Sheraton Albuquerque Airport Hotel.
The cost of the seminar is $4100 per person (double occupancy).  This fee covers transportation and lodging from arrival in Albuquerque to departure from the same airport seven days later.  Transportation to and from Albuquerque is the participant’s responsibility.  As always, we travel in new, air-conditioned vans and stay in first-class lodgings.  Some dinners, lunches and breakfasts are included in the cost.  All other meals are at the participant’s expense.  We cover all other fees and costs, with the exception of tips at the participant’s discretion.  If you wish to share accommodations with another participant, we will try to help with this arrangement.  Single room accommodations are at a supplemental fee of $600.

Our group will be limited to 25 guests. 


Warm Regards,

Marti



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