Collecting Jewelry: Curator H.P. Mera’s Trip to Navajo Country in 1932

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

The exhibit consists of jewelry collected by Dr. Harry P. Mera during a trip to the Navajo Nation in the fall of 1932.  Funded primarily by John D. Rockefeller, Mera visited 80 trading posts and covered more than 2,500 miles to gather a collection of jewelry made in the prior 40 years.  The pieces, outstanding in their craftsmanship and artistry, were handmade from silver coins or ingots of silver before the general availability of advanced mechanical tools and commercial commodities.  These works shed light on the importance of silver to the Navajo people of the time, and form the inspiration of the jewelry artists that have followed.  *The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is open Mon-Sun 10am – 5pm.  Admission for New Mexico Resident Adults is $5, for non-residents, $9.  Additional discounts and special can been seen at:http://miaclab.org/hours

Exhibit runs from July 1, 2021 through December 1, 2021

Museum Hill, 710-708 Camino Lejo (off Old Santa Fe Trail) Santa Fe, NM, 87505

http://www.indianartsandculture.org/current?&eventID=4756