Color! Lecture Series | Diné (Navajo) Tapestry Artist, DY Begay: A Master Colorist with Cécile R. Ganteaume

Location: The Rockwell Museum

Open to the public | Members: Free, Not-Yet-Members: $10, Students: $5 | Advance registration encouraged

Tapestry artist DY Begay (b. 1953), is a leading innovator of her generation and one of the most exceptional Diné (Navajo) weaving artists at work today. Craving the freedom to express herself artistically by composing her own tapestry designs, Begay has developed a unique visual vocabulary, known especially for her use of color. Begay’s color schemes can vary greatly from tapestry to tapestry, but all her weavings reflect her two fundamental artistic interests: one, her keen awareness of sensitivity to the colors of Tsélání, her homeland on the Navajo Nation Reservation; and two, her passion for dyeing her handspun wool with plant- or insect-based dyes. 

Tsélání’s kaleidoscope of ever-shifting colors drive Begay’s imagination, where the sunrises, mesas, canyons and valleys are all part of her daily ritual. This lecture with Cécile R. Ganteaume explores Begay’s unique processes and passion for color. 

Exclusive Opportunity for Silver Dollar Society Members   

The Rockwell Museum is pleased to offer post-lecture Silver Dollar Society dining experiences! Get to know our Smithsonian speakers, as well as The Rockwell’s new executive director, Erin M. Coe, at both the March and April lectures. Members of the Silver Dollar Society will enjoy cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and light meal stations on the Museum’s second floor.    

Space is limited and will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Register by selecting the Lecture + Dinner option in the check-out cart. Registration for this reception is required by 5 p.m. March 4.   

Cécile R. Ganteaume is a former longtime curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). She is lead curator of the retrospective, Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DY Begay, and co-editor of its companion book.  She is also co-curator of Americans exhibition and the author of Officially Indian: Symbols That Define the United States (2017), the book published in association with the exhibition. Both Sublime Light: Tapestry Art of DT Begay and Americans are on view at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. Additionally, she is the curator of the exhibition An Infinity of Nations: Art and History in the Collections of the National Museum of the American Indian, on view at the museum’s New York location, and is the general editor of the book of the same title. Ganteaume is a recipient of a 2011 Smithsonian Secretary’s Research Prize and a 2018 team recipient of the Smithsonian Excellence in Exhibitions Award. 

Thank you!

The 2025 Color! Lecture Series is made possible by CCU Wealth Strategies.