After more than 40 years in storage, the world’s largest single-loom Navajo rug, the Hubbell-Joe Rug (on loan from the Winslow Arts Trust) will be on display in the town for which it was created: Winslow, Arizona. The grand opening celebration is scheduled from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, at the Affeldt Mion Museum, located on old Route 66, at 303 E. 2nd St. This 21’4”x32’7” masterpiece took Navajo (Diné) artist Julia Joe, her daughters, and the Kin ł ichii’nii clan five years to create, including shearing hundreds of Navajo Churro sheep, washing, carding, dyeing, and spinning the wool, and spending from “sunup to midnight” at the custom-made loom. The public will once again get to experience this magnificent textile in its new home, Affeldt Mion Museum. During the Great Depression, trader Lorenzo Hubbell Jr. came up with the innovative idea to create the “World’s Largest Navajo Rug” as a draw for his Winslow Trading Post. In 1932, he commissioned Julia Joe, a well-known weaver from Greasewood, to bring this vision to life. What resulted was a masterpiece, not just in size, but in technique, with an evenness of weave, uniformity of color, and complexity of design. Master weaver Julia Joe considered this to be her finest work. When the trading post closed in the 1970s, the rug went into storage, until 2012 when Allan Affeldt and Tina Mion purchased the textile and returned it to Winslow. After 10 years of planning, including the $2 million rehabilitation of the 1930 depot designed by famed architect Mary E.J. Colter for the Santa Fe Railway and Fred Harvey company, the exhibit is ready for the public.
