Heard Museum

The Heard Museum offers a captivating place to learn the arts and cultures of the American Indian through its exhibit galleries. There are 10 galleries which consist of almost 40,000 pieces of artworks of the Native American, both traditional and contemporary.

Heard Museum was established in 1929 by Dwight and Maie Bartlett Heard which began as a small museum. As the years passed, the museum gradually expanded from one exhibit to the other. Between 1968 and 1969, The Jacobson Gallery of Indian Art was added. Then in 1983, it expanded to 78,000 square feet which is almost double the size of the museum. The expansion continued in 1999 until today. The continuous expansion makes Heard Museum as a living museum that educates the people.

The extensive collection of the museum is displayed in Heard Museum Phoenix and Heard Museum North Scottsdale. These two locations feature permanent and changing exhibitions. The Heard Museum Phoenix has 10 exhibit galleries while its community museum, Heard Museum North Scottsdale has one permanent gallery and one changing gallery.

The exhibit galleries of Heard Museum Phoenix include the Lincoln Gallery, Freeman Gallery, Sandra Day O’Connor Gallery, Crossroads Gallery, Kitchell Gallery, Jacobson Gallery, Lovena Ohl Gallery, Jack Steele Parker Gallery, East Gallery Boarding School Exhibit and the Home: Native People in the Southwest. The museum has collected almost 40,000 works of art including baskets, textiles, pottery, jewelry, sculpture painting, drawings and photography. The Heard Museum Phoenix has other facilities including outdoor galleries, performance spaces, sculpture garden, theater, library and shops.

Heard Museum Scottsdale which opened in 1996 is currently located at the Summit of Scottsdale featuring galleries and different facilities including museum shop and native plants garden. Kids will also enjoy the Choices & Change Exhibit which is complete with facts in every display.

Guided tours are offered to the public which lasts for about 45 minutes. The museum also offered virtual exhibits that were previously displayed in the museum.