Shawn Didyoung
Shawn Didyoung is a master goldsmith with part-time engagement in Western silversmithing and custom engraving. Didyoung’s time as a working cowboy in Texas and New Mexico instilled in him a deep appreciation for handmade gear. As a result, he was motivated to pursue a career in silversmithing due to his desire for high-quality, artisan-crafted items. Didyoung takes great pleasure in sharing his expertise in Western silversmithing and in helping others who have an interest in learning.
Larry Lorang
Larry grew up on his family’s farm in Great Falls, Montana, which he and his wife still own. He started building bits and spurs for himself and friends to use around the ranch. He then became a full time bit builder in 2020 when they decided to sell their cows. He was awarded a Traditional Cowboy Arts Association fellowship in 2023. As a maker of bridle bits and cool cowboy gear, building bits and spurs is his passion, and every day is something new and exciting.
Beau Compton
Beau Compton was born and raised in a rodeo and ranching family. Though he was initially interested in bit and spur making, he started silverwork in 1997 after his father-in-law introduced him to Vic Vasquez, a saddlemaker, silversmith, and bit and spur maker.
In 2006 Compton started to pursue silverwork as a full-time business, and in 2015 he was awarded the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA) Fellowship, which — along with the TCAA Emerging Artists Competition — he credits for propelling his work to the level of TCAA membership.
Beau currently resides with his wife and two children on his family-owned cow/calf operation.
https://www.beaucompton.com/about-beau
Ernie Marsh
Ernie Marsh has been a bit & spur maker and Western silversmith since 1990. Marsh has been mentored and influenced by master makers of the last generation and has worked towards promoting and carrying on the tradition and skills that were passed on to him.
His designs are based first and foremost on function, which he combines with his own artwork, creating a unique style that has influenced a younger generation of craftsmen and gained the respect of horsemen and collectors.
As a founding member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association, he has exhibited work annually at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City since 1999 as well as at other venues across the country.
Recognitions have included the Academy of Western Artists Spurmaker of the Year 2000, United States Artists Association Katie Seitz Fellowship in Traditional Arts 2016, National Endowment for The Arts National Fellow in Traditional Arts 2025 and the Wyoming Governor Arts Award 2025. With his wife Teresa he continues to operate a full time shop at their home near Lovell, WY.
https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/ernie-marsh
Scott Hardy
Scott Hardy is a fifth-generation stockman who became a full time Western silversmith in 1981 and seventeen years later became a Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA) founding member.
Hardy is fueled by the belief that “embellishing horse and rider with precious metal is a tradition as old as man on horseback and deserves the respect of being done one piece at a time by hand.” He takes inspiration from the natural world, fine craftsmanship, and the West itself.
Hardy celebrates the West through his pieces, hoping to inspire craftspeople, artists and collectors alike to see the importance and relevance of North American cowboy culture.
Wilson Capron
Wilson Capron grew up on ranches in West Texas and has studied horsemanship and roping since his youth. In 1996, Wilson began apprenticing for legendary bit and spur maker Greg Darnall. Wilson lived with the Darnall family while attending Texas A&M University-Commerce, where he earned an Ag-Business degree.
As Wilson developed his engraving talent, he found guidance in artistic principles from his father, cowboy painter Mike Capron. In 1999, Wilson launched his own business.
His designs are a contemporary interpretation of Texas- and California-style bits and spurs. Wilson has been a member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association since 2004.
Wilson lives in Christoval, Texas.
Artist Talk: Cary Schwarz
In person and online
Saddlemaker and leather artist Cary Schwarz will present on the development of his craft.
Schwarz is featured in the Craft in America episode, WEST. Schwarz attended a saddlemaking trade school in the early 1980s and continued to diligently pursue his studies, crediting influences such as Ray Holes Saddle Company, Dale Harwood, and Chuck Stormes for shaping his approach, which prioritizes both function and art. Schwarz is a founding member of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association (TCAA), a non-profit dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional cowboy crafts. He has received recognition for his work, including the Governor’s Award for the Arts by the Idaho Commission on the Arts in 2010 and being named Saddlemaker of the Year by the Academy of Western Artists in 2009. In 2026 he was named an NEA National Heritage Fellow.
Please email rsvp@craftinamerica.org to attend in person or register to join the webinar online.
This talk is presented in conjunction with the Craft in America Center exhibition, Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West, on view June 13 through September 26, 2026.
Opening Reception—Cowboy Craft: Traditional Art of the West and Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine
Please join us to celebrate the openings of two exhibitions related to the Craft in America WEST episode.
Cowboy Craft, features artwork made by bonafide members of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association. Founding member, saddle maker, and NEA Fellow Cary Schwarz helped to organize the exhibition.
Wilson Capron
Beau Compton
Shawn Didyoung
Leland Hensley
Larry Lorang
Pablo Lozano
Ernie Marsh
Cary Schwarz
John Willemsma
Marques Hanalei Marzan: Entwine is a premiere solo exhibition of Marzan’s work on the mainland. The exhibition offers a rare chance to see his intricate work in person. Marzan will give an Artist Talk before the reception.
Top images: Left: Beau Compton, Cowboy Stein. Right: Marques Hanalei Marzan, from the Pu’lei series.
Skateboarding the Canyons, Plains, and Asphalt-banked Schoolyards of Coastal Los Angeles in the 1970s
Pioneering skateboarders reacted to newly created subdivisions throughout Southern California in the 1960s and 70s. In their pursuit of new surfaces upon which to express bodily movement, they exploited a capital-intensive urban landscape to create a sport that today has tremendous economic, political, and cultural implications. This talk will focus on archival material drawn from Skateboarder Magazine from 1975 to 1980 to help situate the ways in which skateboards sought out particular urban spaces and responded to them in particular kinetic ways. The skateboarders and those who documented their emerging sport through photography and writing, expressed deep awareness and understanding of urban space. Topography and new suburban morphologies influenced their understanding of, and reaction to these spaces. The asphalt-banked schoolyards of Los Angeles in particular provided an unintended playground for skateboarders and served as a starting point for the modern-era of the sport.
Lorne Platt focuses on urban history, city planning, and cultural geography. Over the last few years, he has examined skateboarding and suburban development, alongside other forms of alternative movement and micro-mobility (including scooters and e-bikes). Another area of interest is the transformation of semi-natural landscapes into cultural/human spaces, including golf courses, university campuses, and sports stadiums. Lorne holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and is currently a Lecturer in Urban Planning at UC Irvine and Geography at UCLA.
Images courtesy of Hugh Holland (M and B Photo)
In Conversation: Build it and Ride it—How Skateboards Began
Todd Huber, skateboard historian and founder of the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame, will present a brief look into the handspun origins of one of the world’s most popular sports. From metal wheels and 2 by 4’s, stolen roller skates, and a plethora of makeshift materials and construction approaches, skateboards are rooted in the DIY, from how they are made and built, to a total outlook, philosophy, and culture. This talk will explore how sidewalk surfing and American ingenuity went from garages to the Olympics.
Huber is the Founder and CEO of the International Skateboarding Hall of Fame and a lifelong advocate for skateboarding culture. In 1997, he opened the world’s first Skateboarding Museum in Simi Valley, California, preserving the sport’s history and honoring its pioneers. Through the creation of the annual Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Huber has built one of skateboarding’s most respected institutions, attracting thousands of fans and industry legends from around the world. His leadership continues to elevate and celebrate the legacy of skateboarding globally.
<!– wp:paragraph –>
<p>,,,,,</p>