Everyone we asked said that we should go to the Heard Museum in Phoenix. It is a museum of South West native American history and culture. We had one day with Judy and Bruce. We thought we might be able to get through the Heard Museum and then the Botanical Gardens. We had heard that the Heard Museum wasn’t very large and wouldn’t take too long to see. But we decided to go to the Heard and see how it went. If there was time left at the end of the day maybe we could go for a walk in the desert near our campsite for our botanical hit.
We got there about 10. There was a docent led tour of the non-permanent exhibits at 11 and a docent led tour of the permanent exhibits at 12. We went on those. There was way too much to see in these walk-by tours and way too much that wasn’t even mentioned. So after a nice lunch we went back for more detail.
When we walked into the museum there was an undulating tile mosaic sculpture hanging on an outside wall. It was about 5 ft tall and more than 20 ft long. It was on a concrete backing about 3 inches thick and made in sections.
This kind of stuff just fascinates me. All of the different colors and textures together make something quite visually stunning. It represents all of the layers in the earth we have seen in AZ.
There was a lot of very amazing sculpture inside too.
This horse head sculpture in front of a tan wall with dappled sunlight was very cool. It looked like this for only a moment and then the light changed.
Simple lines with minimal detail show everyday life that was common to everyone.
Buffalo played a big part in all aspects of life. This buffalo was an abstract, smooth polished bronze on the other side.
This depiction of two Apache Warriors was interesting in the use of patina on bronze to get the different colors.
Pottery was not art a few hundred years ago, it was how the native americans stored water and food and carried seed and in the carving and decoration, preserved history through story.
Today it is an art form and there are celebrated artists from different families and pueblos. Beautiful.
Do you know what the story is here? I don’t, but it must have been important to the story teller to have taken the time to tell it in this way.
After a long day of art, there was still enough energy left for smiles. Aren’t they cute?
To my way of thinking there was enough at this museum for two full days.
We went back to our campsite and went for a walk in the desert out to a big wash where yellow flowers were blooming. We had a picnic supper outside as the sun was setting and then went into the coach for desert. I was under some intestinal distress from something I ate a day or two earlier. It was tough not feeling 100%. It took another week for this to pass.
The next day Judy and Bruce went off to their conference and we set off for Prescott. We would meet them there in two days for an afternoon and evening. Then they were off to Sedona and we would be heading for Parker on the Colorado River.
More later.
Roger and Susan
Home2 with Roger and Susan 