After over a year of tragedy and loss, the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) is thrilled to be opening up their doors once again for their annual Summer Heritage Festival and Native Art Market. While in past years the event is usually split up into three festivals for the Hopi, Navajo and Zuni, the MNA will be hosting a month-long event, that will also include Native artists from all tribes in the Colorado Plateau region, including Acoma, Havasupai and Yavapai-Apache, to name a few.
Hopi dancers performing in the Museum of Northern Arizona courtyard. Photo courtesy of the MNA.
The festival combines the art market, performances and humanities-based presentations, and each weekend out of the month, the public will have access to view and purchase from talented artists such as Duane Maktima (Hopi), Jennifer Joseph (Hopi), Michael Billie (Navajo) and Janet Yazzie (Navajo). Each artist brings their traditions and heritage in varies forms of media; two-dimensional fine art, weavings, jewelry and pottery.
“The first festival we ever had was the Hopi festival in 1930, the year the museum first opened,” says Kristan Hutchison, director of marketing for MNA, “and we had the festival continuously since World War II, so it was quite difficult to cancel it last year. Over the years, we adapted the festival to include Navajo and then Zuni artists, so the new festival structure this year is just another adaptation.”
Vivian Descheny, Navajo weaver, at the MNA, holding up the Chief’s blanket she wove during the pandemic year, with the San Francisco peaks in the background. Photo courtesy of the MNA.
Covid not only ravaged Native lives and communities, but closing the art market was a huge hit to Native artists’ ways of life. “Art markets are one of the only ways that Native artists have an income,” Hutchison furthers. “Without the festivals, these artists lost an important interaction with the public and source of art patrons. Some artists have been able to adapt to selling online, but it’s big learning curve. We’ve all had to adapt.”
Despite these devastating setbacks, the MNA is getting back to some normalcy. Artists such as Jonah Hill (Hopi), will be displaying his river’s edge and flow jewelry design series. The bracelet pictured in this article features Hill’s flow design, a unique casting using a cuttlebone that is carved and paired with a tufa stone backing. “These pieces represent the rivers and streams flowing through the land, and the texture of the cuttlebone leaves a topographic aspect that connects one to place,” Hill explains.
Jonah Hill (Hopi), Flow design bracelet silver castings with tufa stone
The MNA is also quite excited to be featuring the popular Native artist collective known as Art of the People. The group, founded by Baje Whitethorne Sr. (Diné), encompasses Native artists living in the Flagstaff area, with a mission to educate the public on Native identity and art. “They demonstrate and paint collaboratively,” says Darvin Descheny, MNA programs manager. “They’re all skilled in their own right, and they work together on one canvas. One artist might take a break and anther will jump in. It’s fun to watch how the different artist influences contribute to the painting.”
Baje Whitethorne Sr. (Diné) and members of Art of the People, New Beginning, New Direction. Private collection.
The festival, beginning the weekend of July 2, will be mainly held outside the museum, and all the stage performances, art talks and demonstrations will also be streamed online and through Facebook. In addition, the museum will have restrictions on the number of people entering the festival, so there will be advanced ticket purchasing options on the festival website.
July 2-25, 2021
Summer Heritage Festival
The Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001
(928) 774-5213, www.musnaz.org
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