U of A's native art and Tucson book festival

I went to the Arizona State Museum at the University of Arizona in Tucson over the weekend to see its native arts exhibits because I've always loved native jewelry, baskets and pottery. The jewelry exhibit showed contemporary pieces with roots going back 3,000 years. 

Turquoise holds a special place in native jewelry because of its association with the sky and life-giving water. (It also happens to be my favorite stone and is my birth stone. I'd much rather have turquoise than diamonds.)

This soft coloring is from green turquoise and the Cody stone (quartz with silver inclusions). The Cody stone is reportedly from the Santa Catalina Mountains right behind my house! It was named after Buffalo Bill Cody, who had gold mines north of Tucson around 1900.

I love this circa 2000 silver overlay letter opener with its desert scene. It's by an Arizona artist named James Fendenheim, who is Tohono O'odham and German.

Moving onto baskets, this beautiful coiled basket is from 500-750 CE. (I had to look that up. It's the same as AD but doesn't reference religion.) It's made of sumac twigs and was found in a U of A archaeological dig in Arizona in 1927.

The museum has a large collection of baskets on display, each one intricate and beautiful.

Finally, the museum's pottery collection is the largest and most comprehensive collection of Southwest pottery in the world! I could've stayed there all day and still not read or looked at everything. Here's a modern piece from 2011:

Now the main reason I went to the university last weekend was for the Tucson Festival of Books, which was overwhelming in size. There were 330 authors who presented programs throughout the campus, including singer Linda Ronstadt, who grew up in Tucson. And Bernie Sanders was also there. The line to see Linda was hours long, so I didn't try to get in. Her new book is called "Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands."

There were 200 exhibitors under tents on the sunny campus, as well as entertainment and plenty of food. We had falafel platters that were delicious. We sat in on one talk at the Western National Parks tent, but otherwise we just wandered. Maybe next year I'll plan a schedule of talks I want to attend. With 330 to choose from over two days, it could take awhile to come up with a plan.

On the way home we both decided we needed an iced tea, but instead of stopping at Starbucks and looking out at a parking lot, we went to the Westward Look Resort and had this view, above! (We also had Tucson burgers, french fries, salad and iced tea. That took care of dinner.) The blooms below are on an aloe near our table, but I think they look like glass creations by Dale Chihuly who often places his pieces in gardens.

Have a colorful day