Founded in 1929, the Heard Museum is dedicated to American Indian art and storytelling. From their site, their mission 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”.
We got to the museum around noon and luckily it wasn’t very crowded. We had plenty of time and space to enjoy all of the collections and exhibits. There are so many beautiful pieces of pottery, artwork, textiles, and sculptures throughout the museum and courtyard.
The museum also hosts temporary exhibits and collections. Currently they are showcasing The Jewelry of Richard I. Chavez and the paintings and metalworks of Awa Tsireh. Last fall they had pieces from Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera – Phoenix was the only North American stop on that tour! The picture below isn’t the best, but Adam loved that watercolor from Awa Tsireh. Look at the skunk!
We also made a stop at the museum café for a snack while we were there. We ended up splitting the meat and cheese board, but there were so many delicious-sounding dishes on the menu. The Four Peaks Quesadilla sounded SO good! They also have a beautiful gift shop too, like quality handmade pieces, not cheap souvenir stuff.
For our trip the Heard Museum we used our library’s culture pass program to cover our admission. The Mesa Public Library is part of a culture pass program that allows free admission for 2 people to participating museums twice a month. It looks like most of the Phoenix-area libraries use the same program. I also found similar programs in other counties/states, so there may be something similar available near you. It ended up working perfectly and it’s my new favorite cheap date idea!
Do you ever visit your local museums? The Phoenix-area has SO many, but I think this is only the 2nd one we’ve been too…
Linking up with:
Arizona is one of my favorite places! Such a fun place. Heading to read your Old Town Scottsdale Food Tour post next!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many fun things to do around AZ! The Old Town Scottsdale Food Tour is one of my favorites!
DeleteOh how fun...it looks like you had a blast. This is definitely a place worth visiting.
ReplyDeleteIt was really interesting and so many beautiful pieces!
DeleteWhat a neat place. That jewelry is gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteIt is! That one turquoise bracelet is huge!
DeleteThe museum looks amazing! We have quite the amount of local museums, but I mostly visit museums in other towns! I always think that I will visit them someday, but I really should be going some time soon :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's what we do too, so we decided to play tourist in our town more often! It's been fun to check out all of the places that we would see as visitors, but have never been to as residents!
DeleteThis is great! I agree, I don't always go to the museums which are on my doorstep either, something I must work on. Thanks for linking #citytripping
ReplyDeleteI think it's true for a lot of people! Hopefully we'll keep this up and really start taking advantage of all of the amazing museums in the Phoenix-area!
Delete