Heard Museum
Heard Museum is one of the cultural tourist attractions one can find in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix, the largest and most populous city in Arizona, is famously known for its year-round sun, Spanish-style architecture, and desert gardens.
Downtown Phoenix is a major hub for major league sports and live music events, as well as an important center for banking and finance in Arizona. Heard Museum is one of the spotlights of the city.
About the museum
The Heard Museum is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. The museum tells the stories of American Indian people in their own words, and it hosts exhibitions of traditional and contemporary art by American Indian artists and artists influenced by American Indian art.
Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard founded the Heard Museum in 1929 to house their art collection. Much of the archaeological material in the Heards’ collection came from the La Ciudad Indian ruin in Phoenix, which the Heards bought in 1926 at 19th and Polk streets.
Bennie Gonzales, who also designed Scottsdale City Hall, designed portions of the museum.
The museum hosts about 200,000 visitors a year. The facility has about 10,239 square feet of indoor space and 18,971 square feet of outdoor space, three meeting/banquet rooms, and five outdoor courtyards.
The Heard Museum reveals the cultures of tribes in the region through exhibits, demonstrations, and live performances and displays the work of contemporary Native American artists. During the week, artists exhibit their work, and musicians perform on most weekends.
Features of the museum
The Heard Museum’s current collection includes over 44,000 pieces of traditional and contemporary Native American art, along with historical artifacts. It also offers 12 exhibition galleries, a contemporary art gallery, free guided tours, outdoor sculpture gardens, a well-known café, and trading-post-style shopping, as well as a library and archives with over 34,000 volumes.
Notable collections one can find in the museum include 3,600 works and documents that chronicle the American Indian Fine Art Movement in the 20th century and 1,200 katsina dolls donated by Senator Barry M. Goldwater.
The Heard Museum Shop offers an array of authentic Native art for sale while the Berlin Gallery features outstanding contemporary fine art for purchase. The Cafe whips up tasty Southwest-inspired salads, sandwiches, and soups, and you can also visit the Cantina for gourmet coffee drinks and snacks.
Location of the museum
The museum is situated at 2301 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States. Opening hours are from 10:00 a.m-4:00 p.m from Tuesdays to Sundays.