Laguna territory

Neither geography, technology nor heredity can stop one local family business from expanding.

In addition to the opening of a second gallery in Laguna, Len Wood’s Indian Territory, Inc., now in its third generation, has built itself a large Web presence.

The company is best known for its longstanding gallery near the Laguna Art Museum, which deals in American Indian antiquities.

The family found out about the second gallery opportunity in mid-June, when a space in the Bluebird Centre became available.

“We thought that a Western art gallery would be a nice addition,” said Matt Wood, gallery director and son of founder Len Wood. A whirlwind construction schedule followed, and the gallery opened in August.

“A lot of people, including ourselves, weren’t expecting to get in here so quickly,” Wood said.

The new space focuses on contemporary artists that represent different branches of the Western fine art genre. His family had noticed such paintings in the collections of their clients and decided to feature them.

“We thought, maybe we should bring a little Santa Fe to Laguna,” Wood said.

Several artists, from painters to sculptors, were selected for representation in the gallery.

“We chose them because they didn’t just look like any other art,” Wood said.

The space also features Indian Territory’s customary antique blankets and baskets; the family hopes to bring in older paintings in the future to serve as historical complements to the antiquities.

The second gallery fills a niche in Laguna, which is heavy on European and modern American art but very low in Native American work.

“I don’t know why there’s no Western galleries here,” he said. The new location, at Bluebird Canyon and North Coast Highway, is considered a prime location for the gallerists.

“We’re surrounded by really high-end galleries and hotels. It’s great to be in the mix; we’re hoping to give a bit more diversity to the area,” Wood said.

“We want to be far enough away [from the other gallery] that we may be able to hit a different client base,” he added. “The contemporary works, I think, are going to appeal to a pretty wide audience.”

He hopes that, through educational events like lectures and shows, people will be drawn in by the paintings and then develop a deeper aesthetic awareness of the Indian art genre as a whole.

“A lot of people instinctively appreciate a painting, but not necessarily an Indian basket,” he said. “It takes a little bit more time to appreciate Indian art.”

Preparations for a grand opening are in the works, and the gallery will participate in future Art Walk events.

“I’m very pleased,” said Len Wood, who opened his original gallery in 1969 on Coast Highway. Wood’s teepee and cottage featured moosehide moccasins from a tribe in Alberta, Canada.

“It was so much fun that I started studying,” he said. That initial research on 19th-century Indian art blossomed into a full-flung passion with the crafts of the period. The company expanded to offer high-quality textiles, baskets and other Indian antiquities.

“It was always material of integrity,” he said. Baskets became a major focus for Wood, who has handled examples from more than 200 tribes. He has also developed a love for Navajo blankets, which he says make any art and antiquities collection more personal.

“Weavings provide a means to make art a part of the home,” Wood said. “It looks like you’re going to use that saddle blanket this afternoon on your horse.”

Wood, originally from Banning, moved to Laguna in 1942 at the age of 7. In Wood’s youth, he said, Banning’s labor force was comprised of American Indians, and he was able to spend time in that milieu.

He also recalls, with bright eyes, trips to Morongo with his father, a physician who would make housecalls in the 1930s to the elderly on the reservation.

“They would have been born at the time of the Gold Rush,” Wood said, citing the widespread tribal relocation, forced labor and slaughters of the time. “So today we collect their basketry; it goes back to the tribes that made it. These personal objects will be a connection to their ancestors and may offset being born with an inheritance based on the gaming industry. They really need to have a connection further back.”

This concept of lineage is apparent in Wood’s own family as well. His enterprise is a family venture, now in its third generation. Len’s three sons — Rob, Jeff and Matt — managed the original gallery together, but Matt ended up taking the reins at the new gallery.

“It’s always a good feeling to come to work and hear the boys joking together,” Wood said; the sound reminds him of how his father and uncles, all doctors, would laugh together at holidays and other gatherings.

Matt’s daughter Jennifer is the latest addition to the empire. She’s been building the company’s Web presence for the past year and a half.

“We all have a hand in it,” said her father. “We’re one family; we move as one thought.”

Today, the company has a thriving online business; in addition to a website where more than 2,000 items are listed in an online catalog, each with multiple photos and detailed descriptions, the company has sold their products on eBay since 2002.

“A lot of our business is website-generated,” Matt said. “It touches 70% of our sales.” He added that almost every day a customer walks in, printout in hand and asks to see something in person.

“That’s really how the world is going. You just still need to have somewhere to show it.”