Phoenix is glowing with artistic pride this fall as Phoenix Art Museum presents The Way We Came: A Century of Indigenous Art from the William P. Healey Collection, a landmark exhibition now on view through July 11, 2027.
The show springs from the single largest gift of Native art in the museum’s history: 185 modern and contemporary works by 99 Indigenous artists representing 44 tribal nations, donated by The William P. Healey Collection of Native American Art. More than 70 of these treasures fill the galleries, offering visitors a sweeping journey through a century of Native creativity, from the early 1900s to today.
Co-curated by JoAnna Reyes, the museum’s adjunct curator of Art of the Americas, and Navajo artist Tony Abeyta, the exhibition celebrates how Indigenous artists have sustained, adapted, and reimagined cultural knowledge across generations. Themes of storytelling, abstraction, landscape, and family lineages shine through works by Fritz Scholder, T.C. Cannon, Kay WalkingStick, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Emmi Whitehorse, Quincy Tahoma, Cara Romero, Allan Houser, and Oscar Howe. Twenty-two of the featured artists are women.
Set in the heart of Phoenix at 1625 N. Central Ave, this is a joyful invitation to experience the richness, diversity, and continuity of Indigenous art — a must-see stop on every culture lover’s itinerary this year.
Photo: Tony Abeyta, Celebration from the Underworld, 1998–1999. Gift of William P. Healey, courtesy of Phoenix Art Museum. Photo: Davin Lavikka
