Local author Judith Stone and Southern Ute elder, Russell Box Sr. greet audience members before the presentation of his life story. Stone has written a biography on Russell’s life and it follows his life story as well as some insight about how he began making art. The Ignacio Community Library held a book signing and lecture on Saturday, Feb. 23 to showcase “The Physical and Spiritual Journey of a Southern Ute Elder.”

Russell Box Sr. shows the “Ute Culture” painting he completed in his earlier days, it is one of two of his pieces that is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.