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OKLAHOMA CITY – At 97 years of age, Josephine Myers-Wapp has accomplished many “firsts” in her long career as an artist and has taught countless people to enjoy and appreciate American Indian culture and art.

Josephine Wapp

Curated by the Oklahoma Arts Council, her exhibit, The Artistic Legacy of Josephine Myers-Wapp: The Weaving of Stories and Tradition, will be on display in the first floor of Capitol in the East Gallery from June 22 through August 23rd. The East Gallery is open daily from 8:30-5:00.

Born in 1912 in Apache, Oklahoma, Wapp is a proud member of the Comanche tribe. “I learned of the Comanche ways from my grandmother, Tissy-Chauer-Ne, and my emotional connection to my art came from her. My most cherished memory is when, as a child, my grandmother took me with her to dig herbal medicine and gather clay from Cache Creek to use for cleaning buckskin.”

Instead of using a loom to create her beautiful pieces, Wapp creates them by hand, using the traditional finger-weaving technique and has even dyed her own yarns.

“There are only three basic patterns of finger weaving. Naturally I picked the hardest one, the arrow point, but I just kept on it until I mastered it. I really like the finger weaving. You can put whatever colors you want. They are woven all the way across, one thread at a time.”

In the early 1930s, Wapp attended a two-year teacher training course in American Indian arts and crafts in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she learned both traditional and contemporary weaving techniques, including finger-weaving, as well as how to weave on treadle-looms and hand-frame looms. She also studied pottery under the instruction of Maria Martinez, a renowned potter from San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico.

In 1934, Wapp returned to Oklahoma to teach at Chilocco Indian School in Newkirk and was the first teacher to introduce arts and crafts at the school. During the summer, Wapp attended the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University and earned her degree in Education. In 1962, when the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico was established, she was invited to be one of the school’s first teachers where she taught traditional techniques of art, including textiles, all types of weaving, costume and fashion design, beadwork, and native dance.

In 1968, along with ceramic artist and IAIA colleague Otellie Loloma, Wapp coordinated a dance exhibition at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. Her creations have been exhibited at the Indian Arts and Crafts Exhibition in Gallup, New Mexico; the Scottsdale National Indian Arts Exhibition in Scottsdale, Arizona; and the Center for the Arts of Indian America in Washington, D.C. In 1972, she exhibited her original clothing designs in the Auxiliary Fashion Show at the historic La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe. Her creative work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and the Middle East.

Since Wapp’s retirement from teaching in 1973, she has continued finger-weaving at her leisure and constructed wall-hangings from naturally dyed wool. She lives in Lawton where she remains active in the Native American community, serving as judge, consultant, and presenter at a variety of workshops.