About James Ayers - Painter of historic Native American cultures

Colorado artist James Ayers James Ayers was raised in Massachusetts and is a 1991 graduate of the famed Rhode Island School of Design.

Ayers specializes in portraying historic American Indian cultures, but is a scholar of indigenous peoples worldwide. For the last twenty years (and to the present day), James has traveled, lived, and worked with indigenous peoples worldwide. James has:

* Trekked on foot with the semi-nomadic Samburu and Turkana people in Africa's Great Rift Valley

* Explored Native American reservations from Maine to Arizona, living with the Iroquois in the Northeast, the Lakota in the Great Plains, and the Hopi in the Southwest

* Acquired first-hand knowledge of the Arapaho Sundance Ceremony while visiting the Wind River Reservation in Ethete, Wyoming

* Studied at historic Toadlena Trading Post on the Navajo reservation in northwest New Mexico to meet the weavers and the sheepherders still living traditional lifeways

* Traveled through South America to visit ruins, historic sites, and meet indigenous people
Ayers' work is owned by private collectors and museums across the United States, including the permanent collection of the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia.

"Out of respect and honor for the people and cultures, I strive to achieve the utmost honesty and authenticity I can attain in the artwork I create." ~James Ayers