Fifth Generation Dine Weaver
Graduating from Northern Arizona University, Isabel is the Navajo Weaving instructor for the University of New Mexico(UNM) in Gallup, NM, where she has taught since 1992. She teaches beginning weaving, advance weaving and dyeing. She is a certified Elementary Education teacher certified by Prescott College. She has taught Pre-1st, 2nd and 3rd grade at the Window Rock Elementary School. Previous to UNM., Isabel taught Navajo Weaving at Dine College, the Navajo Nation's tribal college, in Window Rock, AZ.
While she is not teaching academics, she is providing workshops, demonstrations and presentations. Recently, she demonstrated Dine Dyeing at the 2007 Heard Museum Fair in Phoenix, AZ. She has instructed at festivals such as the Sheep Is Life Celebration and Wool Festival of Taos. She has demonstrated Dine Weaving and Dyeing at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Indian Arts Culture's Fiber Arts Festival. She has taught for after-school enrichment programs and tribal youth programs. Despite her travels, she prefers her workshops at home in Oak Springs during the summer time.
Between teaching, workshops and demonstrations, Isabel produces her cherished Dine Dye Charts and Dine-dyed weavings. The Dine Dyeing is the foundation of her artwork. The Dine Dyeing is a holistic and an organic process not using any acids, bugs, chemicals and exotic plants. Passed from generation to generation, the art displays the many different and distinct hues and colors a traditional Dine weaver can achieve using natural materials found in the Southwest. It is this respect for tradition and knowledge of using indigenous plants for dyeing that makes Isabel's artwork cherished.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market
University of New Mexico - Gallup, NM
The Wool Festival of Taos
Sheep Is Life Celebration
Museum of Indian Arts Culture
Smithsonian
Navajo Nation Fair
Updated 03/11/07