 | Traditional Skill/Art Craft: Saddlemaking Years Awarded: 2015 Contact Information: Phone: (541)943-3263 Website: https://www.lenbabbsaddles.com/ |
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Len Babb III is a traditional western saddlemaker, hand making traditional saddles for cowboys throughout the West. Born in Wyoming, Len moved to Oregon in the third grade after his father got a job at the ZX Ranch in Paisley, OR. Len learned how to make saddles from his father, taking over his father’s saddle shop after he retired. Len also takes pride in the over 40 years he spent in the saddle as a cowboy, and uses that experience to make his saddles. In his own words, “There is a lot of cowboy pride and tradition in buckaroo culture. People like having their own specific saddle made for them and their needs.”
APPRENTICE BIOGRAPHY - Jody Cooper 2015
Jody Cooper was born in Wyoming where her dad worked at a cattle ranch before they moved to Oregon. Her grandfather was a saddle maker and she had always been surrounded by cowboy and buckaroo cultures. When she was 20 years old she began working with leather, but it wasn’t until she started hanging out with Len Babb that she began to work with more elaborate stuff such as spur straps, and saddle parts. Cooper wishes to continue on with saddle making and see where it takes her in the future and making a living out of it.
Q+A WITH THE MENTOR ARTIST
Describe your traditional art.
Body
Tooling leather and building custom made saddles. Cowboys are in need of saddles for their livelihood. I cowboyed for over 40 years so I know how a good saddle should feel.
How did you come to learn this tradition?
Body
Learned this great tradition from my father. By watching, and practicing while in high school.
Why is this cultural tradition important to your community?
Body
I want to pass on this tradition because it would be a shame to lose a beautiful craft and skill as saddle making. There is a lot of cowboy pride and tradition in buckaroo culture. People like having their own specific saddle made for them and their needs. People can buy factory saddles that are made fast and cheap so people can afford them but they don’t hold up under the work that a cowboy, a range cowboy, would put them through. They’re not built for comfort and endurance. Saddle making is important because it is a longstanding tradition that people make a living off of. It’s convenient and available to cowboys who don’t have to shop out for saddles.
Experience/Honors
Body
I’ve done a few workshops with grade school children at Paisley High School. I show them how to work leather and put seminars on at the school.
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