Contemporary Navajo Art and Artists: Identity, History, and Culture

FAIN: AD-269198-20

Dine College (Tsalie, AZ 86556-9998)
Karla Cavarra Britton (Project Director: July 2019 to present)

The development of a three-year project devoted to the study and documentation of Navajo art and artists.

The School of Arts, Humanities and English at Diné College will strengthen and encourage the college’s mission to cultivate Navajo culture and identity through a three-year study and documentation of contemporary Navajo art and artists, focused on enhancing the academic Art History component of the Humanities curriculum. The project will involve both students and faculty, as well as outside scholars and consultants, in three distinct phases: (1) on-campus seminars with visiting Navajo artists, (2) an exhibition of the artists’ work at the College museum, and (3) development of a scholarly publication documenting the exhibition and offering a critical assessment of the evolution of the Navajo visual arts from a Native perspective. By addressing the lack of significant attention given specifically to contemporary Navajo art and artists, this initiative will result in a much-needed educational resource for wide use in Art History courses at both Diné College and other similar schools.