Proceeds benefit By Western Hands’ mission to preserve and sustain Western Functional Art through its educational programs and initiatives.
Drawing to be held September 23, 2023
Need not be present to win.
$20.00 – $100.00
Custom Order Ask the ArtisanDonated by artisan Supaya Gray Wolfe. Supaya was born in the Cherokee Nation and has spent much of her life living in a traditional hogan on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Spending time with tribal elders at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and learning from her Navajo ‘heart mother’ — hearing the ancient stories and being shown antique clothing and accoutrements — has been a major source of inspiration in her work. Supaya makes reproduction Native American clothing and items from the 1800s to the early 1900s using traditional methods in beadwork, fringe, feathers, buffalo hides, and other materials. This reproduction Cheyenne Dance Yoke dyed with earth paints is a popular color in todays powwow, with hand cut fringe, the glass beads represent sweet grass flowing in the winds, the yellow trade cloth up at the shoulders is for the sun. There is nothing better than watching a child dance- representing our past, present and future.
Supaya’s education comes from living on different reservations, Cherokee reservation, Pine Ridge South Dakota Lakota reservation, and the Navajo reservation in Arizona. Learning from elders, seeing and sharing old designs, listening and learning old stories. It was and is a good school for the heart.
Best in Show: Decorative Objects of Art, By Western Hands Invitational 2022