Unframed: A Photo Journey through Navajo and Hopi Nations, 1977-1978

Experience a photo journey across Northern Arizona with contemporary artist Katharine L. McKenna. During her gap year from college in upstate New York, McKenna spent the summers of 1977 and 1978 volunteering at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. While there, she assisted the museum in collecting woven rugs, pottery, baskets, and jewelry for the museum’s annual Navajo Arts and Crafts show. She documented her experience by journaling and taking photographs of the 24 trading posts she visited, and the countless miles she traveled through the Navajo and Hopi Nations in Northern Arizona.

This exhibition features McKenna’s black and white images and Native American artifacts from the Arizona Historical Society Collections. Visitors can travel along with McKenna and read excerpts from her journal that she kept during this time period.

“Unframed: A Photo Journey through Navajo and Hopi Nations, 1977-1978” opens April 29, 2021 at the Arizona Heritage Center at Papago Park. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. For tickets and more information, please call 480-929-0292.