Creativity. Something we all admire. Something that makes us sparkle. The ah-ha moment. The inspired awe. Museums are places that showcase creativity—in our ability to overcome obstacles as people in our stories of the past, in our ingenuity in invention, in the beauty of our arts. At the Arizona State Museum we share an understanding for that and an appreciation of it through exhibitions and programs focused on Southwest Native American culture and history.
In 2002, I started working at ASM. The first exhibit for which I was asked to create related programs was Connections Across Generations: The Avery Collection of American Indian Paintings. We offered a series of lectures and family and school programs highlighting the talents of these artists and ways to engage with the works and the artists. We invited some of the painters whose work was in the exhibition to share stories of their development and inspiration and to lead a family painting workshop.
One of these artists was Michael Kabotie
, from the village of Shungopavii, Second Mesa, on the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona. Last month, sadly we lost Michael to complications from the H1N1 swine flu.
Michael, whose paintings and jewelry have been displayed and sold around the world and who lectured and taught widely, was a kind and humble man, a Hopi man. He had a wonderful sense of humor, causing you to laugh without perceived effort.
At ASM, he enthusiastically worked with the children and their parents as they transformed a bland classroom into a colorful room wrapped with a mural of their creation (albeit on brown craft paper with cheap water-based paints). A sample piece of this mural hangs on the wall in my office: the flowing colors, swirls, stars and circles greet me each day, and it lifts my spirits.
Every once in a while Michael would be in Tucson. Sometimes he’d stay at my house, or we might meet for lunch. If we hadn’t seen each other for a while, I’d get a call and he’d simply ask how my young son and I were doing. He was interested in people. His paintings are imbued with reflection and spirit. I miss his gentle laugh but still hear it each time I look up at the mural on my office wall.
Michael’s Hopi name is Lomawywesa, which means Walking in Harmony. I am sure he continues to do that and I will again appreciate his creative spirit when it send us desert dwellers the winter rains.
Michael Kabotie at Arizona State Museum, all photographs by Jannelle Weakley, 2002
I remember Michael as a gentle and kind person with a ready smile. He will be missed.
Your blog is a fitting tribute to a fine artist and reinforces my own respect for Hopi creativity. I have often tried to reconcile the differences between the indigenous creative efforts of the Hopi (and others) from those of my own background. I am an artist who’s creative roots lie in the American cultural marketplace. It seems paradoxical that so many Native languages have no formal word for art in there original languages, yet they seem to easily embrace the idea of art in every act. For American artists, like myself, we have so very many names for art – yet we can’t agree upon any of them. The creative act is well respected among the Hopi – the moment something creative manifests from the hands of an artist like Kabotie, it resonates across his entire community. For American artists, our efforts so often require a discussion among ourselves before we can even agree if the results are art or not. It has been my observation that the Native arts of this region are 90% about the culture – with 10% having to do with the artist crafting it. Sadly, just the reverse is true for many American artists. Our art seems self centered by comparison. Perhaps we have much to learn before we can create so meaningfully for our culture and “walk in harmony” ourselves.
Michael was a really nice guy my he rest in peace.
A sad loss and Michael definitely broke new ground with his colorful paintings reflecting traditional Hopi life in contemporary media.
Yes,Michael as a gentle and kind person with a ready smile.
I shall remember he forever.
The loss of such a gentle man is such a loss to us all. He will be missed by so many.
@Jace yah, i can assure that Michael is a gentle man.