Event
Meet Hopi House Cultural Demonstrators: Darlene James (Hopi Potter) & Francis Quotskuyva (Hopi Painter)
Fee:
Free.Location: LAT/LONG: 36.000000, -112.000000
Located opposite the El Tovar hotel on the other side of the Village Loop road, Hopi House is a three-story stepped stone masonry structure with sandstone walls with parapets. Mary Colter designed Hopi House to blend into the neighboring environment, using local natural materials such as sandstone and juniper modeled after Hopi pueblo dwellings. The flat roof surfaces function as terraces. Small openings with wood sash windows and low ceilings minimize the harsh desert sunlight. Chimneys are made from broken pottery jars stacked and mortared together. An old staircase leading to the second floor is decorated with murals by an unknown Hopi artist. Inside, the interior limestone walls are plastered with adobe, and the ceilings are composed of saplings, twigs and grass covered with mud. An 18-inch (46 cm) square metal plaque mounted flat to the top of a four-foot (1.2 m) tall rectangular limestone pedestal, located about 50 feet (15 m) west of Hopi House off Village Loop Drive, reads: Hopi House has been designated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America, 1987, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior. At the west entrance to Hopi House, a low wooden door opens onto gently declining wood floors. Inside, the walls are lined with display cases filled with various native arts and crafts available for purchase, alongside tables and racks of clothing and Navajo rugs. Move 18 steps up an interior staircase to a small gallery on the second floor. The second floor also houses a shrine, called a kiva, with Hopi religious artifacts.
Repeating Event
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Type of Event
Description
Stop by Hopi House in the Village Historic District to meet these outstanding artists.
Darlene James first demonstrated at Hopi House in 2017.
“A great - great - granddaughter of Nampeyo, Darlene was born into the Hopi-Tewa Corn Clan in 1956. She began potting in 1968 and learned from her aunts, Dextra Quotskuyva and Priscilla Namingha, as well as her grandmother, Rachel Namingha.
Her work strongly reflects her Hopi – Tewa heritage and that of the Nampeyo family. She is an exceptional painter, and her pottery normally takes on traditional forms including conventional pots, low shouldered bowls, and plates with Palhik Mana designs, in addition to smaller scale works including miniature canteens, ladles, and figures.
She began a wonderful series of more contemporary figurines in the form of dance maidens wearing varying types of headdresses. An innovative tile maker, she is open to experimenting with shapes and designs.”
Francis Quotskuyva (Bear-Strap Clan) is a self-taught contemporary artist. She is originally from the Village of Shungapovi, Second Mesa, but now resides in Kykotsmovi Village on Third Mesa where her now late husband, John, built them a small home located on her father’s old corn field. Between work and raising a family, John & Francis built up a small Hopi crafts business..
Retiring in 1995, Frances was encouraged by her son to start painting on canvas and shortly after she began participating in fine art competitions where she has garnered many an award. She has been a full-time artist ever since and at 82 years of age she is showing no sign of slowing down.
Reservation or Registration: No
Image Gallery
NPS photo.