Collecting the Contemporary
Exhibition Dates
November 14, 2023 -
Location Details
Lower level gallery
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Exhibition Dates
Location Details
Lower level gallery
Since its founding, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian has been dedicated to collecting the contemporary. Although the Museum was initially focused on Navajo ceremonial art and knowledge practices, it has collected the work of practicing artists since the late 1930s, with one of its earliest acquisitions by Diné painter Andy Van Tsinahjinnie (1916-2000). The Wheelwright Museum’s interest in collecting is directly linked to its capacity to represent and contribute to the field of Native American art history. Systematic collecting of the contemporary and registering artists’ and community voices allows us to record contemporary concerns and perspectives. Continuing to acquire by commission, purchase or donation is important to any museum’s relevance and future potential. This is even more so in a field as dynamic and as significant as Native American art.
Featured are works by:
Curated by the Wheelwright Museum, with support from the Mellon Foundation
Exhibition of Paintings by Fritz Scholder 1977 in the Museum of Navajo Ceremonial Art (now Wheelwright Museum) Wheelwright Museum archives.
Jim and Lauris Phillips Center for the Study of Southwestern Jewelry.
Art in public spaces, including murals, can serve as a vehicle for dialogue about history, describe relationships, and depict the resilience of the community in the hope to create equity, agency, and healing.