St. Charles, Idaho and Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore Sculpture

St Charles, Idaho is at the south end of Bear Lake in Idaho.  While passing through the area as Mormon Immigrants, his mother gave birth to Gutzon Borglum, who would sculpt Mount Rushmore.  He was a famous sculpture.  He sculpted Stone Mountain and bust of Abraham Lincoln, a couple sculptures of Phil Sheridan, and a sculpture called the Aviator.  He was primarily a sculpture but also painted.  He was intent on promoting American heroes and did so on many occasions.  His family became disaffected with the church and they moved back East.  He was still young so had no real contact with the church.  He grew up in Omaha, and then Fremont, Nebraska  where his father had a medical clinic.  He later returned to Omaha and graduated from Creighton University.  

Native American Biography: Michael Naranjo, Blind Sculptor, Tewa Pueblo

Michael Naranjo was born in Santa Clara Pueblo and is of the Tewa Tribe.  He served in the army in Vietnam where a grenade was thrown toward him and in his attempt to throw it back it blew up in his hand.  It left his hand badly injured and shrapnel in his face let him blind.  He was 23 when this happened.  

While he was recovering he asked the nurse for some soft clay.  Using his left hand he was able to make an animal.  Growing up his mother made pottery.  He would use clay to make animals, and she would often fire them.  This sparked in him a desire to be an artist.  Despite his blindness he persisted.  From thos little clay sculptures he has continued and is now a well known artist with many works.  He makes many sculptures of Native American dancers, including hoop dances.  This he sculpts from his memories growing up.  He lived this life until he was nine years ole, and then his father moved him to town where he became a minister.

Native American Art: End of the Trail

 

The"End of the Trail" sculpture is one of the most recognizable in American art.  It was originally done by James Earl Fraser.  It represents the Native American arriving at the Pacific ocean after being squeezed out by American expansion.   The original was created in 1894, but Fraser made several revisions.  A version was displayed at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.  That exposition statue is now displayed at the National Cowboy and Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

This representation is a paper cast used for a mold in Springfield Missouri. It was created by Allen and Patty Eckman who are a husband-wife team using paper molds for their sculptures.  The sculpture is now in the public domain.  This is the mold used for a brass cast and is on display at Bass Pro Shop.