May at the Museum of Northern Arizona

Message from Mary –

This week Museum members came to see the new Designed to Move exhibition, and I had the joy of watching their delight. In stunning photographs by Taylor James, seeds are enlarged and lustrous. Poppy seeds resemble bumpy planets. The fluff on willow and clematis seeds glows. One young boy shook a seedpod and exclaimed “Dad, it’s nature’s music!”

Indeed, this exhibition reveals the music, art, and engineering within these essential but often overlooked parts of our world. It’s a revelation, and a reminder of how easy it is to take for granted things that enrich our lives.

May 18 is designated as International Museum Day to remind people that museums are key contributors to the well-being and sustainable development of our communities. This year MNA invites everyone to come visit on May 18. It will be an open house – no charge. Come and bring friends. Then stay for our first Thirsty Thursday of the season, a time to celebrate the Museum and the community it serves.

I hope to see you soon at the museum.

Mary Kershaw

Executive Director & CEO

Museum of Northern Arizona

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Purchase admission tickets online or at the door.

Mark your calendar

International Museum Day Open House………………………………………..May 18

Master Gardeners Plant Sale………………………………………………………..May 20

Thirsty Thursdays……..May 18, June 15, July 20, August 17, September 21

Party on the Plateau Fundraiser……………………………………………………June 3

Heritage Festival Members Preview…………………………………………….June 23

Heritage Festival……………………………………………………………………June 24-25

Garden Tours….June 3 & 17, July 1 & 15, August 5 & 19, September 2 &16

Easton Collection Center Open House…………………………………….August 26

Calling all garden volunteers

April 29, 10 am – 2 pm

Volunteering in the MNA gardens is a great way to learn about plants. There are opportunities to work with MNA botanists while learning about native plants, or to grow crops and community in the Colton Garden. Drop by Pearson Hall (next to the Colton Garden) on April 29 to learn about the volunteer opportunities, get enrolled as a volunteer, and maybe win a door prize. If you can’t make it, email msoliday@musnaz.org to find out about these and other volunteer opportunities.

Easton Collection Center Tour

May 12, 3 pm – 4 pm Last one until fall

Join MNA docents for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum of Northern Arizona’s collections inside the Platinum LEED certified, architectural masterpiece Easton Collection Center. Home to more than 800,000 objects, the ECC tour will enhance visitors’ understanding of the Native cultures of the Colorado Plateau and MNA’s role in research and conservation.

International Museum Day – Free entry!

May 18, 10 am – 4 pm

MNA is holding a community open house. Come visit and learn about the ongoing research and activities that make the museum an important and enriching part of the community.

Research Posters

10 am -1 pm Peebles Navajo Cactus monitoring

10 am -1 pm Early Mesozoic fossils from the Navajo Nation

11am -2 pm Corn rocks, a unique artifact from the Sunset Crater eruption

1-3 pm Identifying Southwestern artifacts in the Brooklyn Museum

12-3 pm Zooarchaeological Analysis of the Houck Sites

Talk: Exploring Hopi Katsina Dolls

May 18, 3 pm

MNA’s Chair of Anthropology Kelley Hays-Gilpin shares her expertise on Katsina dolls

Thirsty Thursdays

Third Thursdays, 5 pm – 8 pm

Foxy Koshka opens the favorite summer outdoor music series! Stroll the galleries, grab a drink, and unwind in the Museum’s Jaime Major Golightly Historic Courtyard. $15 admission.

May 18 – Foxy Koshka

June 15 – Mother Road Trio

July 20 – The Red Eyes

August 17 – Highland Ramblers

September 21 – NAU Jazz

May 20, 10 am – 2 pm, Garden sale

Discovery Village and Colton Garden

Pre-sale tour of Moore Medicinal Garden at 9 am

For a second year MNA is hosting the Master Gardener Plant Sale. Come stock up on plants, starts, and tools, then listen to free gardening talks on pest management, planting techniques, soil building and seed saving. Visit the Colton Garden to get ideas on sustainable ways build your garden. There will be fun activities for kids and food trucks.

Discovery Camp registration

Camps run July 10 to August 4

Registration is now open to all, and the camps are filling fast. Register now posted on the website. But here’s an insider tip – become a member nowand you can register for camps right away, plus you save the cost of your membership when you sign up for at least 2 camps. See all the camp topics at https://musnaz.org/summer-camps/

Nature Sketching

Sundays, 1:30-3:30 pm

Connect with nature and your inner artist by sketching outdoors. Artist and biologist Elizabeth Blaker teaches weekly classes ($35/each) outdoors on the museum grounds and leads a free Nature Journal Club. Email elizabethblaker1@gmail.comfor details on the upcoming classes and club meetings.

Neurographic Art Workshop

May 6, 1 pm- 4 pm, $35

This therapeutic and self-soothing art method can calm the mind, reduce stress and anxiety, promote problem solving, and much more. No artistic ability required. Artist Lisa Lee Pearce will lead you step-by-step through the process and you’ll leave with the skills to do this on your own. For details or to register, email lleearrist@gmail.com

This exhibition presents key paintings by one of the most important female artists of the Southwest. Mahoney’s art career spanned 66 years, from her roots in the abstract expressionism of the 1950s to her role as a mentor and master artist with a distinctive style that bridges realism and abstraction. Read about it in this recent Arizona Daily Sun article.

MNA Archaeologists in Glen Canyon

From 1957-1963, MNA archaeologists were part of a multi-year project to record the human history of Glen Canyon before a dam flooded 153,000 acres, creating Lake Powell. At the time everyone expected these archaeological sites would be destroyed forever, but recently MNA archaeologists returned on another multi-year project to reassess the sites they could reach. This new exhibition looks at both projects and the responsibility we all share to protect the past.

Designed to Move

See Southwest seeds in a new way through macro-photography by Taylor James. This up-close look reveals the beauty and functional diversity of desert seeds that use different methods for dispersal and propagation. They can float in the air and water, fly far from their mother plant, and hitchhike on the fur of animals. The exhibition was organized by the Biomimicry Center at Arizona State University in collaboration with Desert Botanical Garden, ASU’s Herbarium and ASU’s Design School. At MNA the exhibit also features items from the museum collection highlighting the ethnobotanical uses and cultural importance of these plants.

Signs of spring

Hummingbirds and flowers grace this lovely bracelet by Philbert Begay. Begay is a member of the Kinlichinii Natoh Diné and the son of noted silversmith Richard Begay. after years polishing and finishing pieces for his father, the noted silversmith Richard Begay, Philbert started making jewelry when he was 14 years old, Find more jewelry, pottery, baskets, and books at the Museum Gift Shop, where every purchase supports MNA and the artists.