Hidden Treasures

BY RAEANNE MARSH

>>> Steve Getzwiller, Nizhoni Ranch Gallery, Sonoita, Arizona

The seven-hour drive to the Navajo reservation has not kept Steve Getzwiller from making a monthly visit to the weavers whose work graces his gallery in Sonoita, Arizona — not even once in the 30-plus years since he founded it. He clocks another 300 miles or more, once there, to call on each weaver individually.

His own gallery's remote, southern Arizona location may seem out of the way to some, but Getzwiller and his wife, Gail, love the area's natural beauty and named the business Nizhoni Ranch Gallery. Nizhoni, in Navajo, means beautiful place.

Steve and Gail Getzwiller. Photograph by Robin Stancliff.

Beautiful on the inside as well, the gallery is hung with about 300 pieces of authentic Navajo weavings, split between antique and contemporary works. Getzwiller possesses expertise in both; in fact, he notes, "These contemporary weavings are unique because I have a full understanding of where [Navajo weaving] came from."

Getzwiller was introduced to Navajo weavings through Charles DiPeso, a family friend who was director of the Amerind Museum in Dragoon, Arizona, a facility that Getzwiller calls "one of the finest private collections of Native American art." Getzwiller collected his first weaving as a teenager and later chose to pursue a career in Native American art, becoming a licensed trader. Textiles was his chosen focus. Getzwiller has become a recognized authority on Navajo rugs — and a champion of the art.

Displayed in a residential setting, some of the rugs from Nizhoni Ranch Gallery define living areas.

"I'm a collector first, so I bring a collector's eye to it," Getzwiller says about his passion for the weavings. "I've done my best to bring contemporary weaving as far as I can." This advancement involves a lot of going back to old ways, including the reintroduction of historically significant churro wool to the Navajo weavers. Churro sheep were introduced by the Spanish but became so endemic to Navajo culture and commerce that the U.S. government attempted to destroy them in its effort to conquer the Navajo, Getzwiller relates. There has also been a revival of using traditional dyes.

According to Getzwiller, indigo is one traditional dye that's extracted from a tuber. It is so fade resistant that the color is as vibrant in 200-year-old rugs as in new ones. Insect-derived cochineal is another, a colorfast red that Getzwiller says was once more valuable by weight than gold.

Steve Getzwiller and a Navajo weaver display a room-size weaving.

Through his appreciation of Navajo art and heritage, Getzwiller has developed a long-standing relationship with many weavers — at least 10 years with the majority of those whose work he represents; with some, more than 20 years. "It's a collaborative process," he observes, to which his contribution includes providing the weavers with "the finest-quality dyes I can get my hands on" and "design concepts they find intriguing." He also supplies New Zealand wool to the weavers, a wool he's found takes the dye really well as it is exceptionally clean.

"The weavers do [the weaving] out of a love of what they do," shares Getzwiller. Most weavers are female, but Getzwiller has worked with a few male weavers, although they are rare. Traditionally, wool has been the property of the women because, Getzwiller points out, in the matrilineal Navajo society sheep were passed down from mother to daughter.

Rug selections at the Nizhoni Ranch Gallery.

Getzwiller's clientele includes collectors as well as designers, who have used his weavings in residences as well as hotel projects, such as The Boulders Resort in Carefree, Arizona. He encourages a visit to his gallery, where he can show unique pieces he has on hand as well as pieces that are, as he says, "in process." On occasion, he will accept a commission to create a piece, but this requires a serious commitment. "A 9-by-14-foot rug will take a year or more to do," he explains. Thus, commissions are reserved for those with whom he has an established working relationship. After discussion of designs, color and dimensions, he'll put the project on a time frame.

"Navajo weaving is under a lot of pressure today," Getzwiller says, citing Navajo-inspired designs produced overseas (often by child labor). But, he notes, "You can't mass-produce [the rugs]. Other than using pre-spun yarn, there are no shortcuts."