Of Hubble origins —
Program brings artists to National Historic Site JoAnne Doshier, an artist in residence at the Hubbell Trading Post in Ganado, Ariz., paints a watercolor painting on Tuesday. Doshier, who is from South Carolina, has spent the past two weeks at the National Historic Site working on her art. [photo by Brian Leddy / Independent]

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

GANADO — When John Lorenzo Hubbell was alive and living in the Ganado area, where his trading post was located, he would often support artists and writers by bringing them in and showing them around the area. He would also buy works of art from them or they would donate an item.

“Oftentimes, artists would be coming through and he would have them stay with him, and he would take them on tours up to Canyon de Chelly and show them the interesting cultures and interesting landscapes and they would paint, write, draw,” Edward M. Chamberlin of the National Park Service said.

Today, Hubbell Trading Post is a part of a National Park Service program that is continuing that tradition with the artist-in-residence program that brings in different artists to create art at NPS sites throughout the United States.
For Hubbell Trading Post, “It’s an extension of Mr. Hubbell’s earlier attempt at supporting of the arts,” Chamberlin said.

“We are really excited that it is growing rapidly and we want to fill up the whole year with artists in residence.”

JoAnn Doshier is the latest artist to stay at Hubbell Trading Post to create art for a two-week period. Doshier, from South Carolina , was “visually interpreting the park,” painting watercolors inspired by the historic trading post and surrounding area.

Doshier has been painting seriously for about four years now. During her brief residency, she did about 14 paintings that were on display at the visitor’s center.

“Staying here, I can go out and explore, and I can watch the sunrise and sunset, just kind of capture things that maybe people are just too busy walking by,” she said.

Since she doesn’t do landscapes, the buildings and the objects at the trading post were her focus.

This is the third year that the artist-in-residence program has been in place at the trading post. So far, Hubbell Trading Post has had three artists stay and is expecting a writer/poet soon. The artists stay an average of two weeks and are provided with a guest hogan.

“In exchange for their accommodations, we accept a donation of one painting and it goes into the museum collection,” Chamberlin said.

The hogan is a unique experience for many of the visiting artists, including Doshier.

“I love it because it’s built in one of my favorite time periods — the ’30s and ’40s. It’s like really being here. It’s not like staying in a hotel where you’re just kind of passing through ... You get to experience what it was like for visitors who came here in the past,” she said.

Doshier said she was excited to learn that the trading post had an artist-in-residency program and put in her application when she found out. “I had been here about four years ago and just fell in love with it — the area, the trading post, everything,” she said.

As part of the program, the artists must interact with the public. Doshier would set up on the outside tables at the park and paint during the day.

“A lot of kids are interested in the painting and adults are interested in the program. It’s just a good way of letting the visitors know,” she said.

Doshier would be up and painting by 8:30 a.m. each day
“The nice thing is that’s all there was to do all day. I could paint all day or I could go out and explore and paint all night,” she said.

Each painting takes from three to 12 hours depending on how much detail she wanted to paint.

“It took me awhile to get adjusted to the lack of humidity and the altitude as far as things working differently. The paint dried differently. It blended differently,” she said.

She said she was able to try new things and paint on different materials during her stay. Doshier also said she felt inspired from being at the national historic site.

“As an artist, I feel like people just take pieces of you, and pretty soon there’s nothing left. So you have build up again and that’s what this had done for me. I’m excited, I’m relaxed, I’m inspired, I’m creative,” she said.

One painting is of a goat and a rug, which Doshier painted after learning about the importance of the sheep and goats in the history of rug weaving for the Navajo people. The rug that she painted in her watercolor was a rendition of the rug that was being woven by a master weaver at the visitor’s center during her stay. Other paintings also depict the importance of rug weaving to the Navajo people with one that shows a number of rugs at the trading post and another painting of colorful yarn.

Even bright fabrics were a source of inspiration and a subject for a watercolor by Doshier.

“To me, you’ve got a lot of browns, you’ve got a lot of natural colors and you’ve got this beautiful burst of bright jewel tones,” she said about the painting of the fabric.
Another painting depicts some chickens eating from a coop with sparrows sitting on the edges.

A picture of the gate with J.L. Hubbell’s name on it and his hogan in the background was also painted by Doshier. A full moon during her stay provided Doshier with the perfect opportunity to do a watercolor of a part of one of the historic buildings with the night sky in the background.

“It typifies the silence and the beauty of the area,” she said.
Visitors to Hubbell Trading Post had the opportunity to vote on which painting Doshier would leave there for its collection.

“Some of these could be anywhere and some can only be here,” she said.

Chamberlin said that the park service was thrilled with what Doshier produced.

“Her attention to detail in discovering these little still lifes has been fantastic,” he said.

Doshier also spent her time taking photographs so she can continue her paintings of Hubbell Trading Post subjects even when she returns home.

“I figure I’ll be painting this stuff for the next two years,” she said. “I’d like to do a whole series just on skies. So there are a lot of things that I still want to do.”