Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian

Honoring Native voices through art

In October 2024, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian — a 2024 grant recipient of the Native American Advised Fund at Santa Fe Community Foundation — opened the exhibition Carved Stories by Mavasta Honyouti.

Carved Stories presents all sixteen low-relief carvings from the Coming Home series. These were made in conjunction with the children’s book Coming Home: A Hopi Resistance Story, written and illustrated by Honyouti. The series visually recounts the harrowing story of Honyouti’s paternal grandfather Clyde Honyouti’s experience of an off-reservation federal boarding school. Honyouti’s carvings offer thought-provoking depictions of Hopi life, culture, and history.

The exhibit was an Indigenous-led project with curator Will Riding In (Pawnee/Santa Ana Pueblo, artist Mavasta Honyouti (Hopi), editor James Riding In (Pawnee), graphic designer Kevin Coochwytewa (Isleta Pueblo/Hopi), and filmmaker Jonathan Sims (Acoma Pueblo).

“Carved Stories, an exhibit that is told through the incredible carvings by Hopi artist Mavasta Honyouti. It is both powerful and beautiful” – Brian Vallo
photos by Addison Doty

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The Santa Fe Community Foundation invited its nonprofit partners to submit stories related to our November topic of Native American Heritage.

Nov 17, 2025
News & Stories

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