Navajo Textile exhibit opens at Heard Museum

“Jonah and the Whale,” Sadie Begay (Navajo), 1995. Begay uses x-ray  views in two instances in the story—one shows Jonah napping in the cabin cruiser and the other shows Jonah in the belly of the whale. Photo/Heard Museum

“Jonah and the Whale,” Sadie Begay (Navajo), 1995. Begay uses x-ray views in two instances in the story—one shows Jonah napping in the cabin cruiser and the other shows Jonah in the belly of the whale. Photo/Heard Museum

"Picture This!" It's a fitting name for a fascinating visual tale as well as a new Heard Museum exhibit of weavings that tell stories. Picture This! Navajo Pictorial Textiles, a new exhibit at Heard Museum, opens Feb. 16 and will be on display through Sept. 2.

The exhibit's weavings tell stories that date to when dinosaurs roamed the earth, even though the oldest of those to be displayed were created in the 19th century, according to Dr. Ann Marshall, the museum's vice president for curation and education.

The exhibit features textiles by the family of Louise Y. Nez (Navajo), one of the foremost families of Navajo pictorial weaving. Family members will also be part of a special demonstration of the art of pictorial weaving at the 55th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, March 2-3.

Textiles by Nez and by her daughters Florence Nez Riggs, LaVerne Nez Greyeyes and Jane Hyde, will be displayed. Organizers have chosen Florence Riggs as the fair's signature artist.

Visitors to the Heard Museum North Scottsdale can view another of Riggs' textiles, a circus scene, in the ongoing exhibit Choices and Change. Riggs wove the piece in 1993 at the request of trader Cindy Foutz.

Also included in the Picture This! exhibit are examples of several Navajo weavings donated to the Heard in memory of Dr. Doren Indritz of Scottsdale.

Ticket information is available at (602) 252-8848 or at www.heard.org.

Since 1929, the Heard Museum, 2301 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, has educated visitors from around the world about the art and cultures of Native people of the Southwest. With 40,000 items in its permanent collection, an education center and award-winning shop and café, the Heard remains committed to being a place of learning, discovery and unforgettable experiences.

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