What to do in Oklahoma on June 24
Josephine Myers-Wapp and one of her woven works
Today’s featured event:
See amazing woven works by 97-year-old American Indian artist Josephine Myers-Wapp in the new exhibit “The Artistic Legacy of Josephine Myers-Wapp: The Weaving of Stories and Tradition.” The exhibit is on view in the East Gallery of the state Capitol.
Myers-Wapp of the Comanche Nation was born in Apache in 1912. She is an artist, educator, and specialist in American Indian traditional art, according to a news release.
As a child, Wapp learned the ways of the Comanche woman from her maternal grandmother, Tissy-chauer-ne. Her grandmother taught her to dig herbal medicines and gather clay from Cache Creek to use for cleaning buckskin. Wapp credits her grandmother as her artistic inspiration and the reason for her emotional connection to the arts.
In the early 1930s, Wapp went to Santa Fe, N.M., to attend a two-year teacher training course in American Indian arts and crafts. There, she learned both traditional and contemporary weaving techniques, including finger-weaving, as well as how to weave on treadle-looms and hand-frame looms. She also studied pottery under the instruction of Maria Martinez, a renowned potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo, N.M.
In 1934, Wapp returned to Oklahoma to teach at Chilocco Indian School in Newkirk. Chilocco taught American Indian children basic schooling with an emphasis on learning a trade. Wapp was the first teacher to introduce arts and crafts at the school.
During her summer breaks from Chilocco, Wapp attended the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University and earned her education degree. In 1962, she was invited to be one of the first faculty instructors at the newly-opened Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe. IAIA offers post-secondary education in the creative arts to American Indians from across the country. At IAIA, Wapp taught traditional techniques of art, including textiles, all types of weaving, costume and fashion design, beadwork, and native dance.
In 1968, along with ceramic artist and IAIA colleague Otellie Loloma, Wapp coordinated a dance exhibition at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City featuring IAIA students.
Wapp’s creations have been exhibited at the Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Gallup, N.M.; the Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition in Scottsdale, Ariz.; and the Center for the Arts of Indian America in Washington, D.C. In 1972, she exhibited her original clothing designs in the Auxiliary Fashion Show at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe.
Since Wapp’s retirement from teaching in 1973, she has continued finger-weaving at her leisure and constructed wall-hangings from naturally dyed wool. The Lawton resident remains active in the American Indian community, serving as judge, consultant, and presenter at a variety of workshops.
The East Gallery is on the first floor of the Capitol and open daily from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The exhibit will be on view through Aug. 23.
For more information, go to www.arts.ok.gov.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
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