Sunday, February 23, 2020

The Heard Museum


Paula to my rescue once again.  She just won't take no for an answer when I whine about getting out of the house. This time she had gone to the library and checked out two tickets to the Heard Museum. Did you know that your local library offers free tickets to certain museums and attractions in your area? Check it out.

I took this from the Heard Museum website: The mission of the Heard Museum is to be the world’s preeminent museum for the presentation, interpretation and advancement of American Indian art, emphasizing its intersection with broader artistic and cultural themes.


The Heard Museum was founded in 1929 by Dwight and Marie Bartlett Heard. Today the museum has grown to over 130,000 square feet.  There are many exhibits and we did not have time to see and appreciate them all. Think we'll be making another visit in the future. 

The following are the exhibits we did explore.

David Hockney’s Yosemite and Masters of California Basketry

David Hockney is a British artist who, in 1982, took beautiful photos of Yosemite. In 2010 he revisited Yosemite Valley and used his iPad to draw pictures which he printed on paper. 










These next two are much smaller iPad pictures.





During the early decades of the 20th century, production of baskets in the Yosemite Valley was at its zenith, fueled by a newly established tourism-based economy. Miwok and Mono Lake Paiute women began expanding their practice of making baskets as traditional functional objects, evolving them into objects designed for artistic consumption. 


In the Sandra Day O'Connor Gallery we found the Grand Procession: Contemporary Plains Indian Dolls.

The dolls provide a figurative reference to Indigenous peoples from the Great Plains and Great Basin regions who lived in those areas during the late nineteenth century. 








This art fence represents the Southwest and the organic fences built by Native people from adobe, ocotillo or saguaro cactus. The fence begins with darker colors and then continues with brighter colors representing land and sky.


These next two pictures are close ups of some of the glass work on the fence.




 This mural was created by Tony Abeyta, Navajo, in 2008. He calls it "A Place Where We Emerge" and is India ink and charcoal on the gallery wall.



One exhibit that I would have liked to explore further was Away From Home: American Indian Boarding School Stories. Next time.



 

9 comments:

  1. I miss being able to get out and about on my own, and visit museums such as this. It looks so interesting.

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  2. Also, when I take you places you do the blog post on it. 😁

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  3. I would have been in heaven at this Museum and you would have had to drag me out. The art works is awesome.

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  4. I have not been to that museum but based on my other experiences, bring tissues when you visit the boarding school exhibit.

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  5. I visited the Heard Museum last spring when a Kansas City friend visited--there is a lot to see!

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  6. That is a very cool museum. We're going to have to go sometime.

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  7. That sounds so interesting. I love stuff about the American Indian and their art. The Boarding School is going to be pretty sad I think. I'm sure there were many who benefited but also many children taken from their parents. Looking forward to it.

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  8. From you pictures I would say that is a beautiful place to explore. Our bucket list just gets longer and longer. Thank you, for sharing.

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  9. Maybe you'll serve as an example to get out and about more!

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