Sheridan leatherworker James Jackson wins nation's highest honor for his craft

Enjoy this amazing conversation with master leatherworker and National Endowment for the Arts 2019 National Heritage Fellowship awardee James Jackson.
This year Jackson won the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts after being nominated by Josh Chrysler, folklorist for the Wyoming Arts Council.
“Jim being awarded a National Heritage Fellowship is truly a testament to the caliber of his work. The NEA only gives these fellowships to the best of the best, and Jim belongs in that group," said Chrysler of Jackson's work. "It’s difficult to understate both how prestigious an award this is, and how strongly Jackson deserves it, for his excellence in an art form that is in many ways, highly representative of Wyoming and our western, ranching culture.”
Jackson spent much of his career doing custom work for King’s Saddlery in downtown Sheridan, and now demonstrates his leather carving at the Brinton Museum outside Big Horn.
Today, James Jackson works from his studio at the Bradford Brinton Museum in Sheridan.
Jackson is deeply rooted in the leather carving tradition, having grown up primarily in Sheridan, which is known worldwide for its distinctive ‘Sheridan Style’ of leather tooling.
Jackson learned the art form from his father, the saddlemaker Edward Jackson, and other Sheridan leather carvers including Don King, Bill Gardner, and Ernie Ernst. Consistent with Sheridan Style, Jackson carves a tight pattern, with a lot of small flowers wrapped in nesting circles of swirling leaves. At the same time, Jackson develops his own patterns, and also experiments with form, combining his painting and leatherwork. Jackson is also a formally trained artist, holding an MFA from the University of Wyoming.
Jackson joins three previous National Heritage Fellows from Wyoming: Don King, Western saddlemaker, 1991; Eva McAdams, Shoshone crafts and beadwork, 1996; and Martin Goicoechea, Basque bertsolari poetry, 2003. Jackson, along with eight other recipients from across the nation, was honored in Washington, DC in September 2019.

[@maynardconde.2954]

The Masterpiece of Sheridan craftmenship.Congrats, Sir.

[@tinoyb9294]

Never heard of James but he has some serious talent.

[@alanbeaulier5783]

All I can say is thank you, beautiful work and great video/interview.

[@406Montana]

Don Gonzales does some nice painted pieces. Thank you sir, love your work.

[@stevethomas7463]

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