If blue in color, Click on individual event for more information

Programs & Events

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Exhibition Schedule

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September - December, 2007

"Visions of a Vibrant Race: Revisiting the Legacy of Edward Curtis"

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FEBRUARY, 2008

Common Threads Exhibit – 

February 9^th through June 15^th 

The Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture is proud to present “Common Threads”, an exhibition of Hopi quilts that reaches far beyond the Mesas.  This exhibit will bring together over fifteen quilts, displaying the wonderful playfulness and diversity found within the Hopi quilting community.  Somewhat unknown outside of the villages, quilting has a rich history and allows a less restricted view into the Hopi family life.  These quilts range from very specific traditional symbolism to imagery as recognizable as animals and pop culture icons.

The Museum is working in connection with Ms. Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, noted author of “Hopi Quilting; Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community” and collector of Hopi quilts.  Ms. Davis has over a decade of working with the Hopi quilting community and has formed many friendships.

More information -

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From the Earth

June 21st through October 26th, 2008

The Smoki Museum presents a thematic exhibition of a variety of art based on the theme, From the Earth.  Each piece of art was inspired by the natural world , growing from the earth, sustaining life.  This exhibit will coincide with the first annual planting of the Museum's Native Gardens.

A call for Artists to submit appropriate art provides guidelines for submissions and an application form.  That statement is included here in an Adobe Acrobat PDF file.  Reading this file requires the free Adobe Acrobat Reader utility. Just click on the following line in blue. 

Call for Artists for the From the Earth Exhibit

If you cannot open this file, please visit Adobe's web site and you will be able to download the current program version of the Reader there.

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Open Year Round

And Then They Danced: Cross-Cultural Reflections on the Smoki People

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April - May 2008

April 10 - May 15
Annual Volunteer/Docent Training
In conjunction with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Yavapai College, six training sessions will provide background on the Museum's collection.  These educational sessions can be taken to develop personal insights or as preparation for becoming a docent at the Museum.  Topics covered will include the history of native populations of the region, the Smoki People, pottery, lithics, baskets, jewelry, trade routes, Kate Cory, and archaeology.
These sessions will be held on Thursdays from 1 to 3 PM.  For more information contact Nancy Cannon at the Museum (928) 445-1230.

April 18
A one day quilting workshop --
Featured are Hopi quilters Karen Tootsie and Marlene Sekaquaptewa, and author Carolyn O’Bagy Davis. At this hands-on workshop, presentations will include discussions of Hopi symbols and imagery, the history and introduction of quilting to the Hopi mesa’s, appliqué, painting on fabric, and the Hopi baby naming ceremony.

Class size is limited to only 20 seats per session. The morning (9:30-12:30) will be instructed by Karen and afternoon (2:00-5:00) with Marlene. Spots in the sessions will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. Registration will begin on April 1^st. The cost per session will be $20, payable at time of registration. A supplies list will be available at the time of registration. Participants in both sessions will also be encouraged to create their own block or blocks, for example, representing themselves or a quilting guild or organization. These blocks will be combined at the completion of the workshop and sewn together into a “Friendship Quilt” that will be donated to the Smoki Museum.

April 19
Carolyn O'Bagy Davis will give a lecture at 1 PM. on Hopi Quilting. She is a well-known collector of Hopi Quilts and the author of “Hopi Quilting; Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community.”
  

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May 31st- June 1, 2008
4th Annual Southwest Indian Arts Festival
 
Over two dozen Native American artists will be displaying and selling their artwork such as pottery, baskets, katsina dolls, paintings, jewelry and more! Stage shows will feature performances by Native American dancers and musicians throughout the weekend.  A Children's Craft Area will offer activities and crafts for children of all ages. Authentic Native American food, Fry bread, and Navajo Tacos will be available! Come join us at the Smoki Museum for this great event!

Artists may contact Ryan Huna Smith by email or by calling (928) 445-1230. 
For more information and an artist application click on each of the following lines in blue.  
Southwest Indian Art Festival Cover Letter
Art Festival Application

These last two pages are in an Adobe Acrobat PDF Format.  If you cannot open this file, please visit Adobe's web site and you will be able to download the current program version of the Reader there.

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July 25 - 26
9TH ANNUAL RUG AUCTION













Click here for archived events

And Then They Danced: Cross-Cultural Reflections on the Smoki People
Open daily during regular Museum hours
Discover the passion, pageantry and controversy of the Smoki People!  This new exhibition explores the seventy year history of this group of Prescott businessmen who performed Native American ceremonies for public display.  Learn about the unique story from a variety of community voices, including members of group itself, historians, scholars, local residents and members of various Native American tribes.  Visit our Smoki People History page for more information.

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Warrior Elder: the Paintings of Leonard Peltier
February 3 - April 8, 2007
New exhibition will feature the artwork of well-known and imprisoned Ojibwa/Lakota Indian, Leonard Peltier.

In cooperation with the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee the show will consist of fifteen paintings all of which were completed during Mr. Peltier’s thirty years in prison.  It is the aim of both groups to raise awareness of Mr. Peltier’s incarceration and raise funds for the numerous LPDC projects at the Pine Ridge Reservation, including scholarships, gift drives, and more.  Although there are many issues involved with the ongoing legal case of Mr. Peltier, it is our intention to lend support for the community building and educational development programs of the LPDC.  Artwork exhibited will be available for sale, with all proceeds supporting the LPDC.

Having spent the last thirty-one years in federal prison, Peltier is an entirely self-taught artist. He must work from memory, or from photographs, as the images he creates he has not seen in over three decades. This fact alone makes his talent and creativity all the more remarkable. His work has recently begun to garner praise; Peltier's paintings are collected by Jane Fonda and Oliver Stone, among many other celebrities and critics.

Says Peltier about his work: "Art is that which affirms life, and living as I do in a world where death, both spiritual and physical, looms ominously, [art] gives me purpose to continue on. Most importantly, art has afforded me the opportunity to give recompense to those who help me in my struggle for liberation. I cannot do it alone and the help of the people is much needed and appreciated.  Bringing a bit of joy and beauty to others is not so much to ask."

Click here for a radio interview with show Curator, Adam Mikos

Click here for newspaper article by Daily Courier columnist, Randall Amster

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Phoenix Screening of "Raindance in a Storm"
Friday, March 23, 2007, at 7:00 P.M.

The Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix hosts this special "Valley of the Sun" screening of the new documentary film on the history of the Smoki People, "Raindance in a Storm: Arizona's Controversial Snake Dance." This screening is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. To learn more about the Smoki People, click here. To learn about the Pueblo Grande Mu  seum in Phoenix, click here.

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Exhibition: Ryan Huna Smith
April 14 - August 30, 2007

Ryan Huna Smith is an American Indian painter and illustrator of the Colorado River Indian Tribe, Chemehuevi/Navajo to be exact.  He has illustrated for the American Indian comic book “Tribal Force”, a radically charged comic and is currently illustrating for the Indian comic “Gan”.  Huna also paints constantly, translating ink into paint.  This exhibition will be made up of both illustrations and paintings.  He has a vivid mix of tribal, anime, and Star Wars generation vision. 

He received certification in 2D art from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and received his BFA from U of A in Tucson. Smith recently finished a piece for the Phoenix Art Commission, which was dedicated on December 1.

Says Smith about his art: "My work is influenced by my interest in popular culture, specifically comic books and Japanese Animation.  These influences are incorporated in my work through the use of bold color, and exaggerated use of the human figure.  Using the figure gives me the opportunity to incorporate hands, which I feel are one of the most expressive elements an artist can use.

"I hope to convey in the imagery I create the diversity of Native American people.  The most visually distinctive aspect of diversity is found within our ceremonies.  This area of Native American culture I find to be the most intriguing and the area that fuels the basis of most of my work."

This exhibition will open with a members-only reception on April 13 and a public opening on April 14. Check back for updates to the schedule of events.

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Ed-venture to Navajo Country
June 1 - 4, 2007

Explore Canyon de Chelly and Navajo Country! This four-day, three-night tour of the Navajo Reservation includes presentations and talks by Navajo leaders and artisans, plus a day tour into Canyon de Chelly.

Download the pdf file of the Application Form for more information. To register, simply print out the form, fill it in and mail to the Museum before April 20, 2007.

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8th Annual Navajo Rug & Indian Art Auction
July 27-28, 2007
The popular Auctions feature over six hundred unique authentic Indian creations, including Navajo weavings, Indian art, baskets, jewelry, carvings, pottery and much much more. The can't-miss event of the summer!

R.B. “Bruce” Burnham, owner of R.B. Burnham & Company Trading Post in Sanders, Arizona, is a fourth-generation Indian trader. Burnham specializes in Native American art auctions; and his expertise in buying, selling, and evaluating Navajo rugs has earned him the respect of area collectors and peers nationwide. He uses his knowledge to strengthen and support Navajo weavers and educate buyers. Burnham conducts approximately 15 auctions annually with the help of his wife Virginia, daughter Sheri, and fellow Indian trader Hank Blair.

Consignments for the Auction will be accepted in July. Check back here in May/June for more details.

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Visions of a Vibrant Race:  Revisiting the legacy of Edward Curtis

Exhibition at the Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture
September 22^nd  through December 30^th
Contact:  Adam Mikos, Curator
mikos@smokimuseum.org
928 445-1230   
   
                     Edward Curtis                                                               "Vanishing Race"                                                                 Hopi girls "Watching the dance"

This groundbreaking exhibition combines original photogravures from the Edward S. Curtis’s series “The North American Indian” with contemporary photographs taken by Indian youth, through the Ahakhav Tribal Preserve Spring photography camp in 2007.  Playing on the title of an Edward Curtis photogravure, “The Vanishing” (dated 1904) in which the expectation of the extinction of the American Indian is somberly visualized, this exhibition seeks to revisit Curtis’s legacy and demonstrate the vibrancy of contemporary American Indian culture. The aim of Visions of a Vibrant Race is two-fold; first to demonstrate that the Indian race has certainly not become extinct and secondly, to show Indian children using the very same medium as Curtis to give audiences a window into their own beauty and creativity.  These characteristics are elements of a vibrant culture.

 Internationally recognized photographer Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) created the largest and most exhaustive visual record of the American Indian ever.  This 20 volume anthology of over 2,000 pages of text and thousands of images was entitled, The North American Indian.  Spanning the majority of his lifetime, Curtis traveled extensively across central and western United States meeting with dozens of tribes.  His travels also took him up into the far northwest of the US, Canada and Alaska.  His goal was to document what vestiges of Indian culture remained following centuries of war and invasion by the unrelenting White American appetite for land and fortune; otherwise known as Manifest Destiny.  During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, when Curtis began his work in earnest, many of the remaining tribes were in great disarray and struggling with the quality of life that had been pushed upon them.  At this time entire tribes had been wiped out completely and those who remained were believed to be headed towards “extinction”.  Such bleak expectations reached from the general population up into the federal government, even the presidential office.  For this reason, Curtis himself began discussing his work as picturing a “Vanishing Race” and this was a phrase that came to symbolize his entire undertaking; visions of a vanishing race.

 Creating a counterpoint to Curtis, the exhibition will also display photographs from the Ahakhav Tribal Preserve’s Spring Youth and Teen Photography camps.  This year was the first ever photography camp hosted by the Preserve and was attended by 22 students, ranging from ages 6-17.  Situated on the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation near Parker, Arizona, the camp enabled the students to learn about and experiment with cameras.  Fundamentals such as focus, exposure and composition were important tools learned by the students. 

                  Octavio's Picture                                                                                                            Ryan's Picture

The Ahakhav photography program was inspired by a short biography of a national geographic photographer who is also a biologist. In it, he said he started doing photography in order to become a better biologist and that he thought that it was his background in biology that made him a talented nature photographer.  By introducing the students to the scientific world through an artistic avenue, the photographs might be able to speak to them about ecology and make them care about the environment a little more. Caring about the environment is the first step in understanding it and also becoming responsible for it.

For almost one hundred years the concept of the “Vanishing Race” has lingered in American culture.  There is so little contemporary understanding be

tween individuals of the two cultures that although they have not vanished they remain somewhat invisible.  It is the hope of the Smoki Museum to begin addressing this disconnect by presenting images and stories of the continuation of Indian culture in the United States.  In the exhibition “Visions of a Vibrant Race”, the youth of the Ahakhav Tribal Preserve Summer Photography program are doing exactly that.

A group of children and two adults from the Ahakhav program attended the opening of the exhibition.  The attached photo shows this group standing with the Museum's Director, Ryan Huna Smith, in front of the exhibit.

Ryan Huna Smith In August, the Board of Directors of the Smoki Museum announced that the new Director of the Museum is Ryan Huna Smith. Ryan's art work is featured in the Flipped Traditional exhibit at the Museum, but Ryan is not only a talented and creative artist, he is also a capable, experienced administrator.  Ryan brings twelve years of experience with the Upward Bound Program at Pima Community College in Tucson, the last eight years as the Program Manager where he managed the annual budget, grant writing, reporting, and staff supervision among other tasks.  Ryan has also taught art at the college and other Tucson schools and organized the annual Native American Month events for Pima Community College.  According to Ryan, “The Smoki Museum has great potential to be a renowned center of culture such as the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Heard Museum, and the Arizona State Museum to name a few.  It is the main objective of the Museum Director to fulfill this vision.”  The Search Committee saw in Ryan the spark of creativity mixed with commitment that will make that vision a reality.   Ryan began his new position at the Museum the first week of September.

“Common Threads” brings together quilters of all stripes.
An exhibition of Hopi quilts

February 9^th through June 15^th

 The Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture is proud to present “Common Threads”, an exhibition of Hopi quilts that reaches far beyond the Mesas.  This exhibit will bring together over fifteen quilts, displaying the wonderful playfulness and diversity found within the Hopi quilting community.  Somewhat unknown outside of the villages, quilting has a rich history and allows a less restricted view into the Hopi family life.  These quilts range from very specific traditional symbolism to imagery as recognizable as animals and pop culture icons.

 The Museum is working in connection with Ms. Carolyn O’Bagy Davis, noted author of “Hopi Quilting; Stitched Traditions from an Ancient Community” and collector of Hopi quilts.  Ms. Davis has over a decade of working with the Hopi quilting community and has formed many friendships.

 In addition to the exhibition, the Smoki Museum will also be hosting a quilting workshop in April.  This three-day workshop will bring together a number of Hopi quilters with the local quilting community in an open exchange of ideas and techniques.  In this informal setting, we hope to foster bonds of respect and encouragement founded on the shared love of craftwork.  One goal of the workshop will be the creation of a “Friendship Quilt”, a large quilt created with handmade blocks by each of the workshop participants.  Upon completion, the quilt will become part of the Museum’s permanent collection.

 As a museum of American Indian Art and Culture, the “Common Threads” exhibition is a extension our mission and also part of our continuing efforts to engage our local community in shared dialogs with the tribes of the Southwest.  In a very magical way, these beautiful quilts do both thing.

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Christmas Indian Art Market
December 1 - 2

Peterson Yazzie with some of his paintings:

 
  

Peterson Yazzie is a contemporary Navajo artist from Greasewood Springs, Arizona. He received his Associates of Fine Arts and Bachelors of Fine Arts degree from the Institute of American Indian Arts, in Santa Fe, New Mexico; and is currently pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University of New Mexico, in Albuquerque, NM. Navajo culture and personal life experiences are the foundation of Peterson’s work. Peterson strives to maintain his culture through his paintings that go beyond just being a “pretty picture”, to “positive and negative realities”. Peterson says, “My paintings are expressions of who I am, an individual co-existing between worlds. I use traditional aspects of my culture, to communicate in a contemporary society.”
 
Lecture and Museum admission (on day of event) are free and open to the public! Refreshments will be served following the lecture. Come join us at the Smoki Museum for this great event!

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WINTER NAVAJO RUG AUCTION

Rug auctions held at the Smoki Museum are popular events in Prescott. Navajo Rugs from all over the Southwest will be up for auction at this unique event. Navajo Rug styles such as Ganado Red, Teec Nos Pos, Storm Pattern, Two Grey Hills, and more will be on display the morning of March 8^th and then auctioned in the afternoon beginning at 1:00 p.m. Bruce Burnham from the R.B. Burnham Trading Company in Sanders, Arizona, will be the auctioneer.  Both the Burnham family and the Smoki Museum Staff will be on hand to assist beginners on how to bid. Come join us at the Smoki Museum for this great event!

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.        Rug Preview
 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.          Rug Auction

The event is free and open to the public.

Rug Consignments were accepted for the Auction at Ogg’s Hogan, 111 N. Cortez, located in Prescott, Arizona, beginning Saturday, March 1^st through Wednesday, March 5^th from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Ogg’s Hogan can be reached at (928) 443-9856. 

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Alex Sando

 
Alex Sando is Native American Program Coordinator for Native Seed/SEARCH. He grew up in Jemez Pueblo, NM and has resided in Arizona for over 20 years. In the sixties, Sando remembers helping his grandfather, father or uncles plow and cultivate the fields with horses. 

During that time Jemez farmers were still cutting wheat with hand sickles. It was hard work but it helped develop good work ethic and self discipline.

Alex networks with Native American farmers, nations/tribes and organizations in the greater southwest and northwest Mexico. He promotes to help preserve knowledge about the use of ancient crops and their wild relatives by gathering, safeguarding and distributing their seeds while sharing benefits and traditional communities.

Sando holds a bachelors degree in Anthropology from Eastern New Mexico University and a Masters degree in Educational Administration from New Mexico State University. He is a painter and sculptor and fluent speaker of the Towa language.

Alex will lecture on the history of Native Seed/SEARCH, the work they do saving seeds and preserving crop heritage passed on by native peoples of the southwest.