We at the Center of Southwest Studies on the Fort Lewis College campus in Durango, Colorado proudly share the magnificent textiles and weavings that represent the Durango Collection ®. Originally purchased by Jackson Clark I, who established Toh-Atin Gallery, and Mark Winter, who now owns the Toadlena Trading Post, the Durango Collection ® represents 800 years of weaving in the Southwest. The collection contains magnificent one-of-a-kind textiles woven by both male and female weavers who represented Pueblo, Navajo and Hispanic traditions.

This is a “living collection” because it has been endowed by Richard and Mary Lyn Ballantine who have given us the financial flexibility to add to the collection. Thanks to the Ballantines’ financial support we can bring to the Center of Southwest Studies guest speakers and experts on weaving, and we can travel the collection. The Durango Collection ® is also a living collection in the sense that we seek to communicate the lives and cultures of the weavers, and to place these rugs, mantas, and shawls into the culture and historic fabric of the Greater Southwest.

Thanks to Mark and Lerin Winter and Richard and Mary Lyn Ballantine the Durango Collection® has remained in the Southwest. A gift to Fort Lewis College through the Fort Lewis College Foundation, the Durango Collection ® continues to attract visitors to our community and to our campus. If you have questions about the collection or are interested in researching here at the Center or borrowing any pieces for a formal exhibit, do not hesitate to contact us.