Meet the Maker: Weaving Demonstration with Barbara and Michael Teller Ornelas

Join artists-in-residence Barbara Teller Ornelas and her son Michael Teller Ornelas, featured artists in Native Arts in Miniature, as they demonstrate traditional Diné/Navajo weaving with a lap spindle and specialized looms. Both artists will discuss the varied weaving materials, tools, and processes while they create new artworks, during this drop-in opportunity.

Free with Museum admission!

Buy TicketsBuy Tickets

About the Artists

Barbara Teller Ornelas and Michael Teller Ornelas, fifth and sixth generation Diné/Navajo weavers respectively, each learned to weave from the previous generation. Their award-winning rugs—full size and miniature—have been recognized at the Heard Museum’s annual Indian Fair + Market and the Santa Fe Indian Market, the largest and most prestigious art market for Native works in the world. Barbara Teller Ornelas has shared her work internationally through a residency at the British Museum in London; as an official cultural diplomat with the U.S. State Department in Peru, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan; and by authoring several books on the family’s weaving tradition with her sister.

You can learn more about the family’s weaving traditions by visiting their websites:

Navajo Rug Weavers – Lynda Teller Pete and Barbara Teller Ornelas

Teller Weavers

This project is supported in part by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund; the Henry Luce Foundation; the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Tepa Companies; Travois; and a generous anonymous donor.