A collection of lithographs by the renowned Navajo artist R.C. Gorman will go up for sale to support the American Indian Endowment, which provides scholarships for Native American graduate students at the University of Arizona – bringing full circle an effort that began about three decades ago.

The University of Arizona Foundation will sell a limited number of unframed original lithographs of the same piece, titled "Earth Mother," each measuring 36 1/2 inches by 29 1/2 inches. The prints are now available to purchase online, in recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November.

The prints sell for $4,000 each, of which $2,000 qualifies as a tax-deductible donation for the purchaser. The sale will run until all lithographs are sold.

The sale is the latest fundraising effort from the Office of Native American Initiatives in the Office of the Provost. But the story of the "Earth Mother" prints goes back to the 1990s, when Gorman donated them to the American Indian Graduate Center, which was then a unit of the Graduate College, with the intent for the art's proceeds to support Native students.

"Our motivation is to fulfill the purpose of this art, which was to provide more opportunities for Native graduate students," said Tessa Dysart, assistant vice provost for Native American initiatives. "We know that funding for grad students can often be limited, so opportunities like these just provide a much bigger pool of resources."

'Always about service to their tribes'

When the Gormans were donated, the center, under the leadership of then-director Glenn Johnson, had already been collecting and auctioning donated art from Native American artists at every skill level to support Native student scholarships. Johnson, a member of the Cherokee Nation who grew up in Tucson, attended the U of A for his bachelor's and master's degrees, which the Cherokee Nation helped fund.

"I saw the importance of a college degree for tribal members to fulfill self-determination," Johnson said, adding that funding was often a barrier to access for many Native students. 

And as an artist himself – Johnson is an accomplished painter – he thought artwork donated by Native American artists could help support a fund that the center had established for Native American graduate students.

Donna Treloar worked at the American Indian Graduate Center in the 1990s first as a secretary while completing her bachelor's degree in anthropology. Treloar, who is Sicangu Lakota and makes beadwork, contributed a bolo tie that was auctioned at an event back then. 

The funds they raised with the auctions years ago were "critical," said Treloar, who is now director for Graduate Center initiatives, because it created the American Indian Endowment in the Graduate College in support of Native graduate students.

"It serves a wonderful purpose," she said. "These funds help support Native students, who are often non-traditional students with families, and can assist them to finish and obtain their degrees, which is the goal."

And based on the programs many Native American students chose, Johnson said, there was good indication that they helped meet goals for their tribes, too.

"American Indian graduate students always picked programs that filled a need in their tribes," he added. "It was always about service to their tribes; it was really heart-warming."

'It was an easy sell'

The donation from Gorman grew out of a request from Mark Bahti, an art dealer with galleries in Tucson and New Mexico that focus on Native American artwork. Bahti, a friend of Johnson's, had known Gorman for a long time by then and offered to ask Gorman if he would donate some of his work to help fund scholarships for Native U of A students.

It was a short call, Bahti said.

"It was an easy sell, it was something that was just in his nature to do," Bahti added. "He basically said, 'Yep, when do you need them?'"

Gorman, who was born near Canyon de Chelly in Northern Arizona, was raised in the Navajo tradition, according to the website for the R.C. Gorman Navajo Gallery, which has locations in Tubac, Scottsdale and Taos, New Mexico. He found his stride in the 1960s for his lithographs, oil pastel drawings, acrylic paintings, sculpture and more.

The Gorman website notes that he was renowned for his "rainbow roll" technique, "the smooth gradation of color that often appears in the backgrounds of his pieces." Gorman died in 2005.

"He was quite a trailblazer, and he did it all on his own terms," Bahti said.

Gorman's "Earth Mother" depicts a Native woman sitting on a desert landscape cradling a swaddled child. The towering saguaros in the background of the image provided a semblance of connection to Tucson and the university, Bahti said.

The original purpose fulfilled

The Gorman lithographs, as well as about 30 pieces of assorted artwork from Native artists – including some U of A students and employees – were stored in Nugent, in the Native American Student Affairs office, as they awaited auction. A few sold at auction events, Johnson said, but their value and size ultimately made them difficult to move.

At some point, likely in the early 2000s, the artwork needed to find a new home, and Bahti offered to keep them at his home in midtown Tucson.

Early last year, Bahti reached out to Dysart's office to see about returning the artwork and reviving the plans to hold the sales. The artwork returned to campus last year, and some pieces outside the Gorman collection have been sold in silent auctions at past events, such as last year's home football game honoring the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.

"I'm just delighted that finally it's happening again, and they'll be going for the purpose of which they were intended," Bahti said. 

After Johnson left the university, he often wondered about the fate of the Gormans.

"I'm really pleased," Johnson said of the plan for the new sale. "What's really great is that Mark stayed involved, so the value is known."

Dysart, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, thinks about how few fellow Native students were in her law school class – she was only one of three. Native American representation in higher education has come a long way, she said, thanks in large part to efforts of those like Gorman.

"I think of this vision that R.C. Gorman had and that the University of Arizona had, and I look at how far we've come – over 2,000 Native students now at the U of A representing nearly 200 tribes," Dysart said. "I think Gorman would be so proud and so excited to see the educational opportunities available to Native students, and I'm so happy to see this art finally fulfilling its purpose because the need is great – but so are the opportunities."