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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2004)
Smoke Signals 5 World Gallery Set To Open In December Native artist John Hawks and his wife Gail putting finishing touches in place in McMinnville. DECEMBER 1, 2004 By Peta Tinda Whether you are seeking fine Native art or the perfect shade of buckskin for your moccasins, Hawks World Gallery is the place to look. Local artist John Hawks' new gallery has all that plus work on display his own and many other artists. Hawks World Gallery, as it's called, is located on 206 N.E. Evans Street in McMinnville and has been open for about a month. Hawks and his wife Gail are still putting the finishing touches on the 3000 square foot space which they plan to use as a classroom to teach Native arts and crafts. "We want it to be a gallery, trad ing post and cultural center," said Hawks. The front part of the building is the gallery space with classrooms and bead shop located in the back rooms. Hawks is a well-known local art ist and sculptor whose booth can frequently be seen at the Grand Ronde and other pow-wows. He is a Chiricaua Apache and first learned to silversmith from his grandfather. He also works with wood carvings, stone, bone, and dentalia, as well as custom silver jewelry. He has had pieces commissioned fby Hollywood stars such as John Wayne, Peter Fonda, Gary Cooper and Steve McQueen. His work was featured in the movie "Dances with Wolves," and is part of the Smithsonian Museum's permanent collection. The pair supplies 33 galleries in the United States and Europe. In addition to his and Gail's work, Hawks also carries art from 11 other artists, including Vee Ola Corso, who does oil on canvas paint ings, Roger McGee, a bronze sculp tor and Vietnam Veteran who has done pieces for many local Veteran's organizations, Alix Mosieur, a first place winning artist who is best known for her likeness of Natives, as well as pieces from Grand Ronde Photos by Peta Tinda r if if . -. - - i 1 1 ii Grand Opening Chiricahua Apache artist and sculptor John Hawks and his wife Gail stand in first of some of the pieces in their newest endeavor, "Hawks World Gallery" in McMinnville. Hawks, whose World Gallery will have its grand opening on Friday, December lO.has art by many fellow Native artists, including works by Grand Ronde Tribal members. GrandRonde Tribal member Jan Michael "Looking Wolf " Reibach will perform at Hawk's opening and sign CDs afterwards. Tribal members like Linda Bean Olson, who sells her handcrafted leather drums at the gallery. "We got together with some folks in Grand Ronde and decided we needed a gallery. A lot of the jew elry, cradleboards and drums are from Grand Ronde artists," he said. 'There are some great local artists who do incredible work, but just haven't had an outlet." Grand Ronde Tribal members, he added, get a ten percent discount. Along with art and artifacts at the gallery, the pair also carries sup plies for Native artists, including hard-to-find items such as extra large breastplate bones and entire elk and deer hides. They also have jingles for dresses and dentalia for necklaces. For those working on pow-wow regalia, Hawks World is the place to go. For people who like to do beadwork, the gallery has beads from France, Japan and the Czech Republic, together with miniature size 15 beads and super-fine bead ing needles. "We specialize in the rare and hard to find," said Gail. "If we don't have something, then we can prob ably get it." The pair also fills special orders on request. The Hawks have set aside space at the gallery for teaching classes in the evenings. Class schedules will be posted out side the gallery. Many of the art ists plan visits to the gallery, either to teach classes or offer advice. "We left it open to all if you want to come and teach a class, you can. Even if it's just storytelling, you can you use the space if it's available," said Hawks. In 54 years, Hawks said, he worked with many different major artists and now hopes to give those 54 years of experience to his stu dents. "We're here for people who want to acquire art, for people who want to learn about art and also people who want to learn culture," said Hawks. A grand opening is scheduled for Friday, December 10 at 10 a.m. jSS tiu - sip" V i' . ' r, ; ! V. i. --T-""' it , r v.. i One Stop Shopping In addition to fine art like these oil paintings by Vee Ola Corso (right) you'll also find supplies for Native art and regalia making like sinew and waxed thread. Hawks World seeks to cater to those seeking hard to find Native art items. li I , L o il y 1 i ttji'i i i 't i-.-.i.i..i.li..iilml,ill mi. I 11 Lm m . ...i 2& n I
