Posts Tagged With: Flagstaff AZ

At the Museum of Northern Arizona

Flagstaff AZ. February 15

We left Prescott Thursday morning, driving to Flagstaff in a steady rainstorm. Unusual for this section of Arizona, the rain produced a flash flood warning for a wide swath of northern Arizona. Creek beds that are normally dry and rocky were full of running water. Not a great day for exploring outdoors so we stopped at the Phippen Museum showcasing art and heritage of western art.

Studio of George Phippen

The Phippen Museum was founded by George Phippen, one of three artists who founded the Cowboy Artists of America association. Phippen also drew calendars for Brown and Bigelow, once upon a time a major calendar producer based in St. Paul, MN. His children kept up the sculpting tradition with foundries located in the Prescott area. On display were sculptures by Chris Navarro, a former bull rider; and sculptures by Solon Borglum, a well-known early 20th century sculptor of western works and monumental works included at locations like Vicksburg National Military Park.

One small section mentioned Tom Mix, a famous movie actor of the early 1900s. He was a star of silent films, making close to 300 movies. More than half of them were Westerns. Mix moved to Prescott, which is why the gallery has a section about him.

Sample work from local artists at Phippen Museum in Prescott

The exhibit the three of us enjoyed the most, however, was a display of paintings and sculptures by local artists. The variety of works were more inspiring and colorful, factors that appeal to my basic artistic sense.

Our arrival in Flagstaff occurred with more rain and temperatures in the mid-thirties. Snow was on the ground in high elevations and sun-protected locations. Fortunately, the temperature never reached the freezing mark so icy conditions did not prevail. Winds were strong and stayed that way through the night, along with continued rain.

Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau exhibit

Friday morning though was clear and cold and Chris, Joyce, and I ventured out to the Museum of Northern Arizona. The Museum has recently renovated their 1980 exhibit on “Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau”. The renovation was 10 years in the making and the museum collaborated extensively with members of each of the tribal communities. The main goal of the tribal communities was to explicitly state “We are still here”; not a cold rendition of old history.

The exhibit showcases each community, where they live, their history, current members, arts and cultural activities, and a message from at least one member of each community. We thought it was well done and we spent most of our visit in this gallery. A visitor begins by touring a gallery discussing the geology of the Colorado Plateau; since geology has such a substantial impact on how life has been and is being formed here.

Pottery display at Museum of Northern Arizona

Other galleries cover traditional exhibits of pottery and jewelry. A new exhibit showcases art of contemporary Native American artists. The exhibit has a neat twist; artists used skateboards as their canvas. Skateboarding is not the focus, just a different type of canvas to be used which grabs ones attention to its uniqueness and yet uniform size.

One specific artist painting on skateboards

The museum is 90 years old and portrays a timeline of the development of the museum along with outside influences. Chris found this section quite interesting. After the museum we picked up Lou and had lunch at the Galaxy Diner where malts and shakes were the focus but not the only foods we enjoyed for lunch.

Ed and Chris. Feb. 15