Center of Southwest Studies : Exhibitions

Current Exhibitions      Gallery Hours

RARE: Imperiled Plants of Colorado

Exhibition Dates: Oct 10, 2009 - May 31, 2010

Opening Event: Oct 11, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists (RMSBA) has organized a juried, traveling exhibit of 40 rare plants of Colorado. The exhibit is designed to introduce the public to the most imperiled plants in Colorado and educate them to the importance of protecting these plants. It also seeks to illustrate the usefulness that contemporary botanical art plays in ecological education and preservation today. The illustrated plants were selected from the Colorado Rare Plant Master List. The RMSBA will work with the Colorado Rare Plant Conservation Initiative to promote rare plant education at each showing. The exhibit debuted at Denver Botanic Gardens in March of 2009 and will continue on to the Steamboat Art Museum in Steamboat Springs and the Business of Art Center in Manitou Springs after its stay at the Center of Southwest Studies.

Woven to Wear: Navajo and Hopi Textiles from The Durango Collection®

Exhibition Dates: September 17 - January 22, 2009 at the Avenir Museum of Design & Merchandising

Opening Event: Sept 17, 2009, 5:30pm - 7pm

Representing 800 years of weaving in the Southwest, The Durango Collection® forms the cornerstone of the Center of Southwest Studies, chronicling the remarkable achievement of Pueblo and Navajo weavers. This exhibition of a portion of the collection pays homage to the creativity and skill of Navajo and Hopi weavers. Mantas of the Hopi parallel the introduction of cotton to the Southwest. And Navajo textiles reflect the Dine (the Navajo name for "the People") concept of harmony.



Exhibition Dates: Aug 22, 2009 - Sept 2010

Opening Event: Aug 22, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Visit the Mountain Lion! website for further details.

Snow Drifts in Durango Wish You Were Here...

Selections from the Nina Heald Webber Southwest Colorado Postcard Collection.

Exhibition Dates: Oct 4, 2008 - Oct 2009

This collection is a visual documentation of the events, places, and people of Durango and the greater Four Corners region.

Postcards sent to loved ones are as popular today as they were over 100 years ago. With brief greetings, postcards tell of travels, adventures or good news. Today they provide us with glimpses of turn-of-the-century Southwestern communities, historic events, people and towns.

Upcoming Exhibitions      Gallery Hours

Check back soon for details on upcoming exhibitions.

Selected Past Exhibitions

Fiber Celebrated 2009

Exhibition Dates: July 31 - Sept 18, 2009

Opening Event: July 31, 2009, 7pm - 9pm

Fiber Celebrated 2009 is an exhibition of handwoven or handmade fiber forms that are one-of-a-kind, including functional household items, functional wearable items and 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional work emphasizing decorative, expressive or sculptural ideas. The juried exhibition is organized by the Intermountain Weavers Conference.


The Fine Art of Revolutionary Crochet

Exhibition Dates: Feb 8 - Aug 2, 2009

Featuring the work of internationally recognized fiber artist & costume designer Birgitta Bjerke spanning 1964 - 2008.

The work of 100% Birgitta has a story to share. It tells of her personal history and changing times by looping together family, friendships, loves, and the cultural attitudes of the places she lived and worked.

Birgitta’s work spans several decades and illustrates social and political attitudes of the 1960s through the 1980s. Her key work includes clothing and fashion design, graphic illustration and drawing. Her work can be wild and revolutionary, or precise and practiced, but it is always 100% Birgitta.

Transitions: Navajo Textiles Transitions: Navajo Weaving, 1880 - 1920

Exhibition Dates: June 22, 2008 - Aug 2, 2009

This exhibition features a selection of transitional Navajo weavings from the renowned Durango Collection®.

Navajo weaving is admired for its beauty, innovative designs and the endurance of the art form. However, although historic weavings sell on today’s art market for thousands of dollars and acclaimed weavers name their price for award winning pieces, many weavers have struggled to make a living from this time consuming art form. Hours are spent in the weaving process, and also in procuring and preparing the woolen yarns. Unfortunately, the dollar return in exchange for the time or money required to prepare or procure materials and complete an intricate weaving has often been extremely low, even for the finest weavings. Navajo weaving is often misinterpreted as a part-time endeavor for weavers, between tending to chores and children. In fact, often times, and especially during the 1880s to 1920s, weaving was a major contributor to the Navajo economy, and at times surpassed all other industries. Even today, weavers may support entire families through weaving.

Images of the Southwest

6th Annual Juried Photography Show

Exhibition Dates: Jan 25 - Mar 27, 2009

Our annual photography show was juried this year by David West of David J. West Gallery in Springdale, Utah.

Connections: Earth + Artist

A Tribute Art Show in Resistance to Desert Rock

Exhibition Dates: June 22 - Sept 28, 2008

In December 2006, the Elders, with the help of Elouise Brown , set up a grassroots resistance camp called Doodá Desert Rock in opposition to the third coal-fired power plant to be established in the Four Corners region. Translated simply, this says "No Desert Rock." The camp sits on a desert mesa near the location proposed for the power plant. To the passing traveler, the area looks desolate and dry, yet it holds many natural underground springs, and traditional sacred sites for prayer and ceremonies.

Curated by Venaya Yazzie, this juried exhibition featured work that unites artists with the community in resistance to Desert Rock. To read the entire exhibition statement, click here.

The Old Spanish Trail: Conduit for Change

Exhibition Dates: Jan 27 - May 15, 2008

The Old Spanish Trail was primarily a horse and burro pack route linking Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The trail evolved from a network of Indian and Hispanic trade thoroughfares criss-crossing the modern states of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California.

Forged by Hispanic traders in 1829 as a trade corridor, the Old Spanish Trail was the first successful Euro-American effort to connect the Mexican frontier provinces of New Mexico and California. The overland trail linked the burgeoning ranch economy of the Pacific communities to the pastoral villages of the intermountain southwest. Ultimately, the Old Spanish Trail became a crucial part of the commercial triangle comprising the Santa Fe Trail in the east and Mexico’s Camino real in the south.

Although the trail was neither "Spanish" nor "old" when western pathfinder, John C. Frèmont, coined the term in his now famous report of 1845, Anglo-Americans popularized the name. To Hispanos the trail was known variously as "el Camino de Nuevo Mexico" or "el Camino de California."

After being exhibited at the Center, the exhibition travelled to the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is currently on display at the Anasazi Heritage Center through Oct 31, 2009.

The Jewelry of Ben Nighthorse

Exhibition Dates: Jan 21 - Oct 28, 2007

In the late 1950s, when Ben Nighthorse's jewelry career began, Indian jewelry was defined by Southwest Indain jewelry styles and was created with the region's trademark materials, silver and turquoise. In the 1970s, the Madison Avenue fashion industry popularized Indian jewelry. Artists such as as Ben followed this new trend and focused their talents on jewelry making. The growing Indian jewelry market encouraged artists to experiment with innovative forms and styles and to exchange design ideas. Ben's early work shows the the range of techniques and designs explored by Indian jewelers during this pivotal era.

A portion of this exhibit is still on view in the Center's exhibition cases.

Circle of the Spirit

Navajo & Tibetan Wisdom for Living

Exhibition Dates: Mar 13 - Oct 22, 2005

This exhibition was accompanied by special programs with visiting Tibetan monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery in India, including a solstice sighting, tea offering, sand mandala, music and chanting. After its exhibition at the Center, the exhibit travelled to the Navajo Nation Museum in 2006.

Exhibition Policy & Forms

Exhibit Policy
Permission to Photograph Gallery
Visual Artist Exhibition Waiver Form