Born on October 5, 1907, at Chinle, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation,
Gorman is a member of the Black Sheep Clan. His mother and father founded
the first Presbyterian mission at Chinle. Gorman’s father was also a trader
and rancher; his mother pursued artistic interests through Navajo weaving.
With the outbreak of World War II, Gorman joined the U.S. Marines and
became a Navajo Code Talker (their coded radio messages in Navajo were never
broken by the Japanese in the Pacific theater of the war). At the conclusion
of World War II, Gorman went to study art on the GI Bill at the Otis Art
Institute in Los Angeles. After completing his training, he became a
technical illustrator for Douglass Aircraft, set up his own silk-screen
company, and became an instructor in Native American Art at the University
of California at Davis. Gorman’s work is displayed in national and
international galleries, he is known as a innovator in a variety of styles
and media.
Western Graphics Workshop, Inc.
