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Between Grass & Sky: Trappings of a Ranch Life |
 Photo by Adam Jahiel | There are those to the leather born
Whose hearts beat to the hoof and horn From Grass by Buck Ramsey January 20 - August 29, 2009
Wiegand Gallery, Western Folklife Center Click here to view our online exhibition of
Between Grass & Sky: Trappings of a Ranch Life |
In a horseman’s world, trappings, such as saddles and bits, are essential tools of everyday horseback work, as well as visible icons of work style and aesthetics. For Trappings of a Ranch Life, some of the finest custom saddlemakers and bitmakers were invited to show off their best work. These artists operate one-person shops; they alone are responsible for hundreds of hours of designing, forging, welding, cutting, filing, stitching, engraving and tooling. Though the work is solitary, these individuals are also part of a dynamic community of artisans that provides opportunities for creative partnerships and learning. In Trappings of a Ranch Life saddlemakers collaborated with treemakers and silverworkers, and bitmakers teamed up with rawhide braiders and leatherworkers to craft their finished products. The creative work gathered in this exhibition testifies to the health and vitality of these arts in today’s ranching world. Made possible by the E.L. Wiegand Foundation and exhibited January 20 through August 29, 2009, in the Western Folklife Center Wiegand Gallery. Click here to read more about the Gallery exhibition. |
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Back at the Ranch - An Artful Life |
 Photo by Brent Herridge
| Back at the Ranch – An Artful Life
showcases the expressive culture
of the ranching community. Click here to view Back at the Ranch,
our online exhibit or select from
the following: |
- View contemporary handcrafted horse gear and learn about the people who made them;
- Watch short videos on the "Art of Gearmaking,"
- Watch ranch-made videos by folks who are working the land, and
- Enjoy listening to some of the favorite poems and songs from ranch country by poets J.B. Allen, Badger Clark, John Dofflemyer, Tom Eaton, Elizabeth Ebert, Bill Gunn, Sunny Hancock, Linda Hasselstrom, Linda Hussa, Wallace McRae, Waddie Mitchell, Joel Nelson, Buck Ramsey, Randy Rieman, Jesse Smith, and Paul Zarzyski, and songs from the Arizona Wranglers, Slim Critchlow, Glenn Ohrlin, and Harry Stephens.
Over the past twenty years the West has seen a renaissance of artistic expression emerge from its ranching neighbors. Traditions of reciting poetry, making music, sharing stories, and creating tools of the trade have found fresh energy and new audience in today’s West.We invite you to listen to and view the creative work gathered in our collection, and learn a bit more about these art forms as they are practiced today. Contributors for Back at the Ranch include:
National Endowment for the Arts
Anne Pattee
The Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Foundation
Community Folklife Program
administered by the Fund for Folk Culture
Ford Foundation
Contemporary Gear Fund & Collection
Standard Wholesale Supply
Wes Dixon / Sudix Foundation  |
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