Glittering World
Where to Get your Navajo Bling
BY JOHN HAWORTH
House in lower Manhattan in 1994. Working in close partnership with Smithsonian Enterprises, which man-
T
ages retail, food service and other revenue centers throughout the Smithson- ian, this exhibition will also include a shop – the Glittering World Gallery Store – the first time the Museum has located a retail space within a gallery. Though the jewelry made by the Yazzies is extraordinary art, it also was made to be worn. A wide assortment of jewelry will be available for sale in the Gallery Store throughout the run of the exhibition. Among the items avail- able are necklaces, bracelets and earrings made with “Navajo Pearls.” These “pearls” are typically rounded beads handmade from flat discs of silver that are highly polished and then crafted into beautiful jewelry pieces. Our colleagues at Smithsonian Enterprises
have worked as collaborative partners through- out the creation of the exhibition, focusing on the development of the Gallery Store. Everyone
involved in this project got to know the artists, their collectors and dealers, and the galleries in the Southwest representing their work. Guest curator Lois Sherr Dubin and Museum curato- rial, exhibition and project staff members Kathleen
Ash-Milby, Duane Blue Spruce and Peter Brill have shown contagious excitement and enthusiasm for this Navajo jewelry and the Yazzie family. So have our Smithsonian Enterprises colleagues Ed Howell, senior vice-president for retail and Ray Moore, the general man-
ager for merchandising. Over this summer, we’ve organized several activities to prepare Museum and shop staff for this exhibition. In late June, Ray and Colina Yazzie travelled to the Museum’s Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Md., to conduct workshops for our col-
lections and conservation staff. Gene Waddell, who founded prominent galleries in the Southwest, will also be in New York and D.C. in August to conduct training sessions. Jewelry and special merchandise will also be available at the Museum’s
September celebration in D.C., as well as at the opening of the exhibition in New York in early November. Special “trunk shows” will showcase jewelers and other artists throughout the run of the exhibition. Our anniversary year has given us tremendous momentum in re-thinking
Blue corn bracelet Lee A. Yazzie, 1980. Bisbee and Royal Web turquoise, lapis lazuli, coral, opal. Length, 3.35". Collection of Joe and Cindy Tanner.
our entire New York Museum, including future plans for enhanced retail and a new cafe. The gallery store within Glittering World has inspired all of us at the Museum to rethink our retail component, especially in terms of expanding the mix of merchandise available to our visitors. X John Haworth (Cherokee) is director of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York.
he spectacular jewelry exhibition, Glittering World: Navajo Jewelry of the Yazzie Family, opening Nov. 13, 2014, will be the centerpiece of the celebration of the 20th
Anniversary of the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, which opened in the Old Custom
76 AMERICAN INDIAN SUMMER/FALL 2014
PHOTO: © KIYOSHI TOGASHI
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