Arizona State Museum: Southwest Indian art
Published: Sep 26, 2009
Established in 1893, Arizona State Museum is the oldest and largest anthropology museum in the Southwest and is the state’s official archaeological repository. The museum’s extensive collection of Southwest Indian pottery boasts more than 20,000 pieces. There are also more than 150,000 ethnographic artifacts, 3,500 comparative vertebrate skeletons and 500 Mexican folk masks.
Visitor to the Arizona State Museum can explore The Pottery Project. The Project features the Arnold and Doris Roland Wall of Pots, the Agnese and Emil Haury Southwest Native Nations Pottery Vault and an interpretive gallery. In addition to this expansive collection of 2,000 years of Native pottery-making traditions in the Southwest, there is also a fully interactive, multi-media Virtual Vault; video interviews with archaeologists and Native potters, and hands-on experiences.
The Ancient Architecture of the Southwest exhibit features photographs of ancient archaeological ruins that capture the beauty, silence, and mystery of the abandoned cliff dwellings and crumbling apartment complexes of the ancient Southwest. This collection was inspired by an Arizona Highways exhibit featuring many of the same artists.
Another Museum exhibit is the Paths of Life: American Indians of the Southwest. This exhibit showcases the origins, history and contemporary cultures of southwestern indigenous peoples in an exciting mix of prehistoric artifacts, historic objects, commissioned artwork, video interviews, and life-cast diorama.
The Museum Store is a great place to pick up educational materials, Indian baskets, jewelry, carvings, pottery, textiles and arts and crafts. There are more than 100 books on anthropology and archaeology available as well.
There are many other rotating exhibits, events, seminars, and hands-on craft to experience when visiting the Arizona State Museum. For more information on current events and to check out the Museum podcasts and blogs, visit the website.
- by Jennifer Pruett, Phoenix Reporter for HelloMetro
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