2008 Prix de West Collectors' Bolos: Ute Warrior and Ute Maiden by Oreland C. Joe Sr.

In 2008, for the first time in Prix de West history, there were two Collectors' Bolos when Oreland C. Joe Sr. lent his talents and sculpted Ute Maiden and Ute Warrior. Joe, a native New Mexican, was at the time a 15-year veteran of Prix de West, and in 2006, won the prestigious Prix de West Purchase Award with his Portuguese marble sculpture Buffalo Sunrise.

Early influences in his life started Joe on his path to becoming an artist. Joe's first grade teacher encouraged him to continue with his crayon drawing, and his parents inspired his creativity and talent. The son of a Southern Ute father and a Navajo mother, Joe incorporates his Native American heritage into his art. Growing up on the Navajo reservation not only taught him Native American traditions and customs but also provided him with a spiritual awareness and an interest in the heritage of all Native Americans, including Joe's fascination with Native American faces.

"I find Native American faces interesting, although very few today have the true features of the 1800s because of so much intermarriage. Historical books with photographs provide me with a good source of faces and historical facial structure," Joe said after winning the Prix de West Purchase Award.

2008's bolos give amazing facial details in their designs. "The project started out with four drawings and quickly went to three, two males and one female," Joe said. "I looked back and saw that there was no female bolo or any like my Warrior with a hat," he said of his design choices. "I'm honored to do something for the Museum. You work and work and then surprises start coming. I am at a point in my career that I am getting the recognition and the following. I'm just honored."