Hopivewat Learning Center (HLC) is pleased to announce they have been approved to receive an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic.

The grant funds will be used to continue the Hopivewat project operations, which involve the resumption of safe programming within the local community, marketing, promotion, and ongoing work towards breaking ground on the landsite. The HLC staff will work with Hopi artisans (basket makers, weavers, katsina doll carvers, etc) from each of the 12 Hopi villages. Artisans will receive a stipend to assist with ongoing efforts to reconnect the Beenhouwer collection with the Hopi community. The Beenhouwer Fine Art Collection was donated to the Hopi Tribe in 1995 by Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Beenhouwer of Santa Fe, NM. The couple collected indigenous cultural art over more than thirty years including works by Hopi-Tewa master artists. The collection consists of 878 fine art items such as katsina dolls, specialty jewlery, baskets, textiles, paintings, pottery and musical instruments that are currently housed at the Museum of Northern Arizona. The overall intention and purpose for this collection is to be shared for future research, education, exhibit purposes for the Hopi communities and the general public.

Artisans will help explain techniques and designs, in accordance with their specific skills and knowledge to offer insight into appropriate hands-on activities, and share any relevant cultural knowledge and protocols. Monthly presentations to be held in several different villages across the reservation to reach a wide range of community members, from youth to elders. Working with artisans not only strengthens our connection to our Hopi Sinom but facilitates intergenerational learning and allows us to delve much deeper into the collection, offering more varied kinds of programming that will appeal to different segments of the Hopi community. The HLC will implement all CDC requirements as recommended and provide masks and hand sanitizer at all events.

For more information on the NEA’s American Rescue Plan grants, including the full list of arts organizations funded in this announcement, visit www.arts.gov/COVID-19/the-american-rescue-plan.

Asqualii, Kwa’kwah!