6/6/97

ATHENS, Ohio -- John Gerber, curator at Ohio University's Kennedy Museum of American Art, will represent the museum in the "Sheep is Life" conference at San Juan College in Farmington, N.M., June 19-22.

Gerber will provide a day-long seminar and exhibit at the conference that highlights the Two Grey Hills Navajo weaving. The conference, originally created to unite ranchers, pastoralists and weavers, is celebrating the trading post named Two Grey Hills near Tohatchi, N.M., on the Navajo Nation.

The extra-fine tapestry weave of the Two Grey Hills exhibit uses only natural wool colors and best exemplifies the close relationship between the weaver and her sheep, Gerber said.

"The primary purpose of the Kennedy Museum's participation is to educate the public about traditional lifeways, particularly the Navajo weaving," Gerber said.

Navajo weavings are part of an ongoing exhibit at the Kennedy Museum and comprise a substantial part of the museum's permanent collection.

In addition to Gerber's participation, Ohio University Media Productions staff members David Urano and Vicky Foster will record the four-day event, conduct interviews with weavers and record demonstrations of the production and processing of the wool used for tapestries.

The information recorded at the "Sheep is Life" conference will be displayed at the Kennedy Museum in January 1999 in the "Two Grey Hills Centennial Celebration Exhibition."

For more information about the conference, exhibit and seminar, call 1-800-732-6881.

The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 14, and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 15.

Exhibits include "Paul Caponigro: Meditations in Light," "A Century of Weaving: The Navajo Chief Blanket" and "Hands On to Weaving," an experimental hands-on gallery.

Admission is free.