Gerald Nailor Sr. (or Toh Yah ( nv, ); January 21, 1917 – August 13, 1952) was a Navajo Studio painter from Picurís, New Mexico. Beginning in 1942, he was commissioned to paint the history of the Navajo people for a large mural at the

Navajo Nation Council Chamber Navajo Nation Council Chamber ( nv, Béésh bąąh dah si'ání) is the center of government for the Navajo Nation. The landmark building, in Window Rock, Arizona, is significant for its association with the 1930s New Deal, and its change in Feder ...

, which has been designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

Background

Gerald Nailor was born in 1917 in

Pinedale, New Mexico Pinedale (also spelled Pine Dale) ( nv, ) is an unincorporated community in McKinley County, New Mexico, United States. Paddy Martinez, the Navajo American man who discovered high grade uranium ore that initiated the Grants, New Mexico uranium ...

. His Navajo name is Toh Yah (Walking By the River). He attended the Albuquerque Indian School from 1930 to 1934. He then attended the

Santa Fe Indian School The Federal Government established the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS) in 1890 to educate Native American children from tribes throughout the Southwestern United States. The purpose of creating SFIS was an attempt to assimilate the Native American c ...

, where he studied art under Dorothy Dunn from 1935 to 1937. After working under Dunn, Nailor spent a year studying with Kenneth M. Chapman and the Swedish muralist Olle Nordmark.

Marriage and family

Nailor met his future wife, Santana Simbola, who was working as a nurse at the Santa Fe Indian Hospital. Upon marrying, they relocated to

Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 cens ...

, where they reared their five children. Their son Gerald Nailor Jr. also became an artist.

Career

In 1937, with his good friend the artist

Allan Houser Allan Capron Houser or Haozous (June 30, 1914 – August 22, 1994) was a Chiricahua Apache sculptor, painter and book illustrator born in Oklahoma.Chiricahua Apache Chiricahua ( ) is a band of Apache Native Americans. Based in the Southern Plains and Southwestern United States, the Chiricahua (Tsokanende ) are related to other Apache groups: Ndendahe (Mogollon, Carrizaleño), Tchihende (Mimbreño), Sehend ...

), he set up a studio in Santa Fe to paint and work on his silkscreen prints. With fellow-artist and classmate Harrison Begay, Nailor founded "Tewa Enterprises", an art publishing firm specializing in Native American art, especially that of the two founders. Tewa Enterprises became known for the high quality of their silkscreen prints."Gerald Nailor"
Art of the Print In 1939, Nailor, Houser and

Velino Shije Herrera Velino Shije Herrera (October 22, 1902 – January 1973),"Velino Shije Herrera." ''St. James Guide to Native North American Artists.'' Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 4 Oct. 2011.Arthur Silberman. "Herrera, Velino." Grove Art Onl ...

were commissioned by the

Section of Painting and Sculpture The Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture was a New Deal art project established on October 16, 1934, and administered by the Procurement Division of the United States Department of the Treasury. Commonly known as the Section, it was rena ...

to paint murals in the

Main Interior Building The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Interior. Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood ...

in Washington, D.C. In 1942, Nailor was selected for the commission for a mural for the

Window Rock, Arizona Window Rock ( nv, , ) is a census-designated place that serves as the seat of government and capital of the Navajo Nation, the largest territory in North America of a sovereign Native American nation. The capital lies within the boundaries of the ...

, to depict the history of the Navajo people. He was one of thousands who applied for the job, which officials expected to take 3–5 years. In 2004, the building (and its mural) was declared a

. Works by Nailor are held by the

Arizona State Museum The Arizona State Museum (ASM), founded in 1893, was originally a repository for the collection and protection of archaeological resources. Today, however, ASM stores artifacts, exhibits them and provides education and research opportunities. It ...

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

Gilcrease Museum Gilcrease Museum, also known as the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, is a museum northwest of downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma housing the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a gro ...

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

, Fred Jones Museum of Art,

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Amer ...

Museum of Northern Arizona The Museum of Northern Arizona is a museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, that was established as a repository for Indigenous material and natural history specimens from the Colorado Plateau. The museum was founded in 1928 by zoologist ...

Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Sm ...

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

Millicent Rogers Museum The Millicent Rogers Museum is an art museum in Taos, New Mexico, founded in 1956 by the family of Millicent Rogers. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated ...

, Southwest Museum and the Woolaroc Museum.

Notes

References

* Lester, Patrick D. ''The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters''. Norman and London: The Oklahoma University Press, 1995. . * "Brief Biography.
Gerald Nailor.Com
Ed. Dane Vierow. 29 May 2007. * "Gerald Nailor Interview." Personal interview. 26 Apr. 2009. Interview about Gerald Nailor Sr.

External links

Photograph of Gerald Nailor Sr. painting ''History and Progress of the Navajo Nation'', installed at Navajo Nation Council Chamber
Digital Vaults

Official Website with artwork {{DEFAULTSORT:Nailor, Gerald Sr. Painters from New Mexico Navajo painters 1917 births 1952 deaths People from Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico People from McKinley County, New Mexico 20th-century American painters American male painters Native American printmakers American muralists Section of Painting and Sculpture artists 20th-century American printmakers Native American male artists 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century American male artists