[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 149 (Thursday, November 10, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2332-E2333]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF R.C. GORMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TOM UDALL

                             of new mexico

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 10, 2005

  Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
memory of R.C. Gorman, a close family friend and a legendary Navajo 
artist known as ``the Picasso of American painters.''
  R.C. grew up using the earth as his canvas. His pallet was the desert 
of the Southwest and his tools were the rocks and sands around him. 
After years of mastering his craft, he found a home in Taos, New 
Mexico, and began to carve out a voice in the world of Native American 
art.
  For four decades, R.C. was a pioneer. He opened the first Native 
American-owned art

[[Page E2333]]

gallery. He helped lead Native American artwork into the mainstream 
conversations and consciousness of all Americans. And he explored the 
world around him, from artwork to cooking, from history to politics, 
all the while staying true to his roots.
  R.C. was very close to my family. I knew him since I was a young boy, 
and he was a dear friend to both my mother and father. During a drawn 
out legal battle over health concerns being suffered by Navajo uranium 
miners, the legal team was being burdened by mounting costs. R.C., in 
his typical selfless style, donated two pieces of artwork to assist the 
cause. Both pieces were auctioned off and the proceeds were used to 
help pay down the legal fees. It was characteristic of him to provide 
anything and everything to help others and to do so without fanfare and 
without self-congratulations, but rather with humility and respect. And 
it is that personal side of R.C. that will be forever ingrained in our 
memories.
  We will always be grateful for the way in which he used the canvas 
with grace and the way in which he helped us see so much beauty in 
places we once overlooked. R.C. will be greatly missed, but his spirit 
will live on.

                          ____________________