Talks & Forums

To RSVP for a lecture or for information on membership, call 928.774.5211, ext. 219 or email membership@musnaz.org.

Upcoming

Tony Foster in Conversation
February 8, 11:00 am

Branigar Hall, MNA
Artist and adventurer Tony Foster has traveled thousands of miles into the wilderness by foot and boat to create the detailed watercolors for which he is famous. For the exhibition currently on view at the Museum of Northern Arizona, "Searching for a Bigger Subject," he visited the Grand Canyon and the Himalayas three times each, climbing up to 17,800 ft and painting all three faces of Everest. Hear Foster talk about his adventures and artistic process, then join MNA Fine Arts Curator Alan Petersen in the gallery for further discussions and questions.

Public Meeting about MNA Land Conservation
February 16, 2 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
Learn more about efforts to set aside 90 acres of MNA land through permanent conservation easements. So far donors have been found to support the preservation of 36 acres, and the board members are actively seeking more conservation-minded donors for the remaining 54 acres. This public meeting will be held in the MNA Branigar-Chase Auditorium and is open to all.

Past

Blue Corn Girls: A Tewa Story
January 20, 2:00 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
During the traditional time for storytelling, Museum of Northern Arizona artist-in-residence Ed Kabotie shares both his tale of discovering recordings of his grandfather in an archive in Indiana, and the stories his grandfather was telling. This presentation will foster understanding for the importance of language preservation and storytelling within the Puebloan community, as he shares his journey to recover and document traditional Tewa Stories.
Kabotie traveled to Indiana University (IU) to listen to archived recordings of his grandfather’s stories recorded in the original Tewa telling. This is part of the Indigenous Insights series.

Loud and Proud: Indigenous Identity and Heavy Metal Music
January 26, 2:00 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
This joint performance and presentation, featuring singer/ song writer Sage Bond and MNA Anthropology Collections Manager, Tony Thibodeau, will explore the impact of heavy metal music on contemporary Indigenous identity. Sage's songs are inspired by her experiences growing up and living on the Navajo reservation.
Tony Thibodeau comes at the theme from an academic perspective, having written his Masters dissertation on anti-colonial resistance and indigenous cultural identity expressed through heavy metal music by Native artists from several regions of North America. This is part of the Indigenous Insights series.

Meet William Henry Holmes
September 24, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
Learn about this multi-talented artist who created iconic images of the Grand Canyon, and was also a geologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, and ethnologist. William Henry Holmes traveled through the canyon on an 1880 expedition, using watercolors to illustrate Clarence Dutton's official report of the trip. This is part of the Flagstaff Festival of Science. All Flagstaff Festival of Science Events are free and open to the public.

Mad About the Monsoon
September 26, 6:30 pm-7:30 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
The North American Monsoon brings beautiful and sometimes violent storms. Learn more about the science behind the rainy season from Brian Klimowski of the National Weather Service during this Twilight Talk. This is part of the Flagstaff Festival of Science. All Flagstaff Festival of Science Events are free and open to the public.

Hot Topics Cafe: Who's in Charge of Space Travel?
September 28, 3:00 pm-4:30 pm

Branigar Hall, MNA
Should space exploration be an international endeavor? Should it be privatized, financed with tax dollars or paid for by advertising with billboards in the night sky? Our panel of scientists and philosophers will discuss these complicated issues. This is part of the Flagstaff Festival of Science. All Flagstaff Festival of Science Events are free and open to the public.

A Future of the Colorado Plateau Forum: Indigenous Voices for Grand Canyon's Next Century
September 12, 6:00 pm-8:00 pm

Grand Canyon National Park’s centennial anniversary offers opportunities for indigenous communities to reflect on the park’s first 100 years and to consider new ways for tribes, federal agencies, local governments, businesses, teachers, artists, and others to work together in shaping the future of the entire Grand Canyon region. Participants who've been engaged in that intertribal conversation for nearly two years will present individual views about Grand Canyon's past, present and future. This forum will bring the conversation forward for the first time to the general public. We want to hear from you!

Seating is limited and pre-registration is REQUIRED: https://nativevoices.eventbrite.com

Film "Dialogue Earth" and Q & A with Ulrike
August 18, 2 pm
View the new award-winning documentary about artist Ulrike Arnold, who creates art using earth as her paint. Directed by Hank Levine and filmed in many locations on the Colorado Plateau, this documentary portrays Ulrike's artistic process, which parallels the relationship between humans and nature. Directed by Hank Levine, "Dialogue Earth" has won awards at the: Chicago Independent Film Festival, (Best Director of a Feature) and Five Continents International Film Festival, Venezuela, (Best Documentary Feature Film). Ulrike Arnold will be at this special screening, which is currently the only scheduled screening in Flagstaff.

My Career as a Native Filmmaker: Indigenous Storytelling and Self-Representation
July 27, 11 am
Reserve free tickets

In this talk, Dustinn (White Mountain Apache/Navajo) will share some of his opinions and insights from his career as a Native Filmmaker. He’ll discuss the complicated relationship Indigenous peoples have to the visual image in both the negative oppressive ways and the positive liberating healing ways. For Dustinn, film instills hope for healing, education and liberation in a country and society whose legacy of violence toward Native America is something Indigenous people still struggle to endure and survive. This is part of the Red Screen Film Festival. See the full schedule at redscreenfilmfestival.org

Plateau Plants - The Roots of Our Existence
Sunday, June 9, 2:00 pm

Native plants are an important building block of life and culture on the plateau. Find out about plants of the Plateau, our plant programs at MNA, MNA’s gardens, living exhibitions, applied research and volunteer activities with Research Botany Associate and local author Jan Busco