Message from Mary –
There needs to be a word to refer to the vibrant cultural community we are part of, in the same way we can refer to an ecosystem. Like organisms in an ecosystem, the many arts organizations in Flagstaff interact and create a stronger, more vibrant place for us all to thrive. That’s why this month’s Museum News includes upcoming events put on by the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestraand Theatrikos Theatre Company. We often work together with these and other arts organizations and decided to reach out to our mailing lists together. Strengthening existing partnerships and broadening our engagement with the community is all part of MNA’s Strategic Plan. You are also an important part of this creative community. Your participation, membership, and support keep us going. On April 15 we are celebrating MNA Members with a day of special presentations and talks at the museum. If you aren’t a member, now is a perfect time to become one. Then you will also be able to join us for the Member’s Private View of our upcoming exhibition, Designed to Move on April 27. If you want more reasons to support the museum, or special ways to experience it, then bid in the online auction. I hope to see you soon at the museum.
Mary Kershaw
Executive Director & CEO
Museum of Northern Arizona
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Bid on Experiences and Support MNA
April 12-19
This online auction is filled with real-world experiences, from private museum tours with experts like geologist Wayne Ranney and fine art curator Alan Petersen to learning to paint or make pasta. Browse items by texting ‘23mna’ to 843-606-5995 or by visiting https://event.gives/23mna
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Discovery Camp registration
Camps run July 10 to August 4
MNA members have already begun signing their kids, and grandkids, up for the Discovery Camps. Nonmembers can start registering on April 17, when the links will be posted on the website. But here’s an insider tip – become a member now and 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/
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Theatrikos Theatre brings the spirit of Broadway to Flagstaff
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Runs March 31 to April 23
The musical comedy The 25 th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a fast-paced interactive crowd pleaser with hilarious, touching, and catchy songs; with each speller revealing their hopes, struggles and passions. An eclectic group of six mid-pubescents, played by six adult singers, vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. Six spellers enter; one speller leaves a champion! (At least the losers get a juice box.) Who will be the winner? Buy Theatrikos tickets
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Haydyn + Beethoven Victory in Times of Struggle
Ardrey Auditorium at NAU
Friday, April 14 at 7:30
Prepare to be engulfed in a larger-than-life choral sound when NAU Shrine of the Ages Choir, directed by Timothy Westerhaus, joins the FSO to perform Haydn’s hopeful Missa in Angustiis (Mass in Troubled Times), also known as the “Lord Nelson” mass. In the same spirit of victory, the orchestra presents Beethoven’s “Eroica” Symphony, a twisting journey of tension, beauty and uncertainty that arrives at one of the great victorious resolutions in the classical repertoire. Buy Symphony tickets
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April 15, 11 am – 2 pm
Slow Art Day is an international event where museums encourage visitors to pause and look longer at specific paintings. This year MNA visitors will be enjoying and reflecting on paintings by Joella Jean Mahoney. Join Fine Arts Curator Alan Peterson for participatory discussions at 11:30 and 1:30. Try writing an ekphrastic poem based on Joella’s art, guided by Rose Houk.
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Member Appreciation Day
April 15, 11 am – 2 pm
Members are important to the museum, so for this day we celebrate you with special presentations and activities.
Talks
11:30 am Alan Petersen, Fine Arts Curator
12:30 Mary Kershaw, Executive Director and CEO
1:30 pm Slow Art Discussion
Ongoing activities from 11:00-2:00 pm
Writing Poetry Inspired by Art with Rose Houk
Pot Sherd Puzzles with Janet Hagopian, Anthropology Contracts Manager
Zuni Carving Demonstration with Jonas Hustito Jr.
Dinosaur SMArt Cart for Kids
Hopi Pot Balancing SMArt Cart for Kids
Anthony Thibodeau, Anthropology Collections Manager in the Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau Exhibit
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Garden Volunteer Information Day
April 29, 10 am – 1 pm
Colton Garden and Pearson Hall
After a very long winter, it’s time to get growing again. Whether you are garden-curious or a seasoned gardener, come learn about the many gardens at MNA and all the fun ways to be involved. This could be the summer you turn your brown thumb green, get in shape while pulling weeds, or learn to identify native plants.
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Learn to sketch landscapes
April 16, 1:30-3:30 pm, free online class
April 22, 8:30 am – 2 pm, Grand Canyon field trip
This workshop is free and open to all – no experience necessary. Artist and biologist Elizabeth Blaker will demonstrate how to sketch large landscapes on April 16, in preparation for the Nature Journal Club field trip to Grand Canyon on April 22. For the field trip the plan is to carpool from Flagstaff, then meet on the rim to sketch. For details email elizabethblaker1@gmail.com
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Tuesdays, 9 am – noon
Landscape painter Deborah Mechigian teaches fundamentals of composition, perspective, and color mixing in this weekly class. Each week the class focuses on one element of a painting. For details or to register, email rockhunterdeb@gmail.com
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Choose Mondays or Wednesdays, 12- 2:30 pm or 6-8:30 pm
Come play in the clay and learn how to throw and hand-build. During each 6-week session you can expect to make 10 quality pieces, fired in electric kiln, pit kiln, and wood kiln. For details and to register, email chasarts101@gmail.com
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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.
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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.
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Designed to Move
Members’ Private View April 27
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.
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Grand Canyon – home to many
Long before the countless numbers of explorers, prospectors, railroad men and entrepreneurs came to explore and exploit the Grand Canyon, the canyon had a place in the lives of the many Southwest’s American Indian people. “We Call the Canyon Home: Indigenous Peoples of the Grand Canyon Region” by Stephen Hirstprovides insight into the longstanding relationship of the Havasupai, Hopi, Paiute, Navajo, and Yavapai-Apache people to the Grand Canyon. Find more jewelry, pottery, baskets, and books at the Museum Gift Shop, where every purchase supports MNA and the artists.
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