Joyce Begay-Foss is a Diné weaver, educator, and curator. She is the director of education at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.[1] For her weavings, she has received more than 20 awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market and Eight Northern Pueblos arts and crafts show.[2]

Life and career

Begay-Foss was born in Shiprock, New Mexico.[3] Her parents are Helen (née Smith) and Fred Begay, a physicist and traditional healer.[4] She grew up both in Northern New Mexico and on a Navajo reservation in Arizona.[3] When she was young, she and her family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.[3]

She began weaving in her 20s, and started the company Walk In Beauty Fiber Arts in her 30s.[3][5] She was a curator at the Poeh Museum, leaving the position in the 1990s.[6] In 1998, she became the curator of education at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC), and in 2000, she became director of education for their newly opened Living Traditions Center.[3] In 2008, she was selected as the Chairperson of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, which combats counterfeits and promotes economic development of Native American arts and crafts.[7]

In 2011, after the two year exhibit "Spider Woman’s (Na ashje’ii ‘Asdzáá) Gift: Navajo Weaving Traditions" at the MIAC, Begay-Foss was a co-writer of the book "Spider Woman’s Gift: Nineteenth Century Diné Textiles."[8] The book discusses Diné basket and textile weavings from the 1850s to the 1890s.[9] In 2019, Begay-Foss curated the exhibition Lifeways of the Southern Athabaskans at the MIAC, which received an Award of Excellence from the American Association for State and Local History.[10][11]

Begay-Foss teaches weaving to children and adults. She has won awards for her weavings at the Santa Fe Indian Market and Eight Northern Pueblos arts and crafts show.[12]

References

  1. ^ "Museum Information". New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Media Center. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  2. ^ Bellard, Betty (6 July 1996). "Navajo weaver teaches youth dying artform". Carlsbad Current-Argus. p. 3A. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Cline, Lynn (14 January 2000). "Weaving cultures". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Santa Fe, New Mexico. p. 16. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Navajo physicist, traditional healer dies at age 80". Window Rock Navajo Times. 13 June 2013. p. A-11. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  5. ^ Linthicum, Leslie (5 April 1992). "Designing Women". Albuquerque Journal.
    • For first page of the article, see Page 10
    • For second page of the article, see Page 11
  6. ^ "Begay-Foss to Discuss Work as Navajo Weaver". Rio Grande Sun. 24 October 1996. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
  7. ^ "Joyce Begay-Foss and Rebecca Webster Selected as Indian Arts and Crafts Board Chairperson and Vice Chairperson". U.S. Department of the Interior. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  8. ^ McKenna, Arin (25 August 2011). "'Spider Woman's Gift' offers insight into Navajo weaving | LAMonitor.com". LA Monitor. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  9. ^ "'Spider Woman's Gift' author comes to Shiprock". Farmington Daily Times. 23 November 2011. p. 5. Retrieved 31 July 2020 – via newspaperarchive.com.
  10. ^ "MIAC Celebrates Exhibitions and Awards". Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  11. ^ "AASLH Awards Banquet" (PDF). American Association for State and Local History. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  12. ^ Indyke, Dottie (1 August 1997). "Begay-Foss finding her own way in rug weaving". Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 32. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
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