At the heart of the vibrant cultural mix of the Taos Art Colony, in what may have been its most vibrant phase – the ’teens and ’twenties of the Twentieth Century – Indians, Spanish, Anglos and Europeans alike found Ralph Meyers (1885-1948). The first white man to establish trade with Taos Pueblo, he was also the guide and often the builder and outfitter for the members of the Taos Society of Artists. Fluent with all the cultures of Taos, he absorbed cultural traditions of woodcarving, silver smithing, beading, weaving, and leather working from native and Hispanic peoples with whom he maintained close relationships. Perhaps most remarkably, with no formal training in art and only a third grade education, he watched the academically trained artists from the eastern U.S., from Europe, and from Russia whom he guided into the mountains on sketching and camping trips and taught himself to paint… with such success that Leon Gaspard called him “one of the finest colorists in Taos.” Scheduled to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Taos Society of Artists, A Taos Original: Ralph Meyers, and the Taos Society of Artists, tells the compelling story of a self-taught, self-reliant outsider whose life and vision helped shaped the country’s understanding of the West, and the world’s understanding of American art.