Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

Thunderbird Jewelry
of Santo Domingo Pueblo

For hundreds of years craftspeople at Santo Domingo Pueblo (now known by its traditional name, Kewa) were known for exquisite shell, turquoise, and jet jewelry that they made and traded throughout the Southwest. But by the 1920s these traditional materials were scarce. Motivated by circumstance, jewelers at Santo Domingo discovered an exciting new medium: abandoned automobile battery casings.
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The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian offers unique exhibitions of contemporary and historic Native American art. We’re famous for our focus on little-known genres, and for solo shows by living Native American artists. We originate every exhibition, bringing you new research, fresh perspectives, and a richness of visual expression you won’t see anywhere else.

Our museum shop, the Case Trading Post, features the best in contemporary craft and fine arts by more than 200 Native American artists, as well as a great selection of vintage and antique jewelry, ceramics, and textiles.

The Wheelwright is open seven days a week, and admission is free.

Celebrating over 70 years as New Mexico’s oldest, independent, non-profit museum!

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“I think the fundamental success in creating something
has to come from a certain fire.”
- Mary Cabot Wheelwright

Olla
San Ildefonso Pueblo,
1880-1840 Height 19.5"
School for Advanced Research collection, IAF.2183
Gift of Mary Cabot Wheelwright Photo by Addison Doty

When Mary Wheelwright established the House of Navajo Religion (now the Wheelwright Museum), her purpose was to create a repository for materials that fostered the study and practice of Navajo ceremonialism. Assisted by Hastiin Klah and numerous scholars, artists, and collectors, Wheelwright filled her museum with weaving, artworks, archives, and other items selected to document and preserve one of the world’s great religious traditions.

But Mary Wheelwright had other interests as well, and was a key figure in the development of Santa Fe’s renowned arts community. Her collections of Native American and Spanish Colonial arts enrich museums throughout the region.

In 2012 the Wheelwright Museum will celebrate its 75th anniversary with A Certain Fire: Mary Cabot Wheelwright Collects the Southwest, an exhibition featuring exquisite textiles, metal work, wood carving, and pottery from Santa Fe’s premier institutions including the School for Advanced Research, the Museum of International Folk Art, and others. Accompanying these treasures will be Mary Wheelwright’s own photographs and writings documenting her love of New Mexico, where she found “the time and space to breathe.”

THE EXHIBITION OPENS
Sunday, May 13, 2012 &
runs through April 14, 2013.

Join the Wheelwright Museum
at any level and attend the Members’ Preview
Saturday, May 12, 2012 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Detail of embroidered manta
Acoma Pueblo, 1850-1860
School for Advanced Research collection, IAF.T122
Gift of Mary Cabot Wheelwright

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