The Heard Museum

The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitions of traditional and contemporary art by American Indian artists and artists influenced by American Indian art. The museum has a collection of over 40,000 items, including a library and archives with over 34,000 volumes, and features exhibits such as 'Home: Native Peoples in the Southwest' and 'The Mareen Allen Nichols Collection' of contemporary jewelry. The museum also hosts various festivals, including the annual World Championship Hoop Dance Contest and the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market, which draws in 15,000 visitors and features over 600 Native American artists. The museum is a member of the North American Reciprocal Museums program and is an affiliate in the Smithsonian Affiliations program