Heard Museum

• Hours: Open daily except January 1, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and December 25
• Reservations: Not required
• Cost: Admission charge, but free for children under 4 and Native Americans with proof of tribal enrollment, free to all the second Sunday of each month
• Location: On Central Avenue in downtown Phoenix, driving directions below
• How Long: Allow two to three hours, depending on your level of interest
• Best Time to Visit: Any time

The Heard Museum is a private museum founded in 1929 by Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard to house their personal art collection. It holds an extensive collection of art and artifacts of the Native Americans of the Southwest.

It took almost 80 years and eight expansions to create today's Heard Museum, a facility worthy of its extensive collection.

Visiting the Heard Museum

The Home wing is the most impressive gallery, with state-of-the art displays set among sinuous, beige-colored wooden dividers. It centers on a courtyard garden and mural, and the permanent exhibits focus on aspects of home, including food, land and memories. Besides displaying a large portion of their collection, the Home wing includes an authentic Native American oven and a full-sized Navajo hogan house.

Other Heard Museum galleries include rotating displays of contemporary Native American art. The Heard Museum Learning Center features kiosks that introduce visitors to each of the area's local tribes and their cultures.

Children will find plenty of things to do at the Heard Museum, especially in the Learning Center.

Included in the Heard Museum admission price are daily, 45-minute guided tours. You can also rent an audio tour of the Heard Museum that include first-person interviews and narratives by Native American artists (extra charge).

To protect the exhibits, backpacks and fanny packs are not allowed inside. They provide free lockers for you stow your bags in.

Heard Museum North

The Heard Museum also has a small exhibit space in Scottsdale in the El Pedregal Marketplace at the intersection of Scottsdale Road and Carefree Highway.

Heard Museum West

Located in the town of Surprise, this location offers an exhibition gallery showcasing more than 400 works of art from the Heard's permanent collection as well as a changing exhibition space

If You Liked the Heard Museum, You May Also Like

Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff

Getting to the Heard Museum

Heard Museum
2301 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ
(602) 252-8848
Heard Museum website

Phoenix city planners must have been in a mischevious mood when they named the city streets. Pay close attention to whether the instructions below refer to STREET or AVENUE. They're not the same.

From I-10 east, exit Seventh Avenue, then go left. The first intersection is at McDowell Road. Turn right onto McDowell, and follow it for about a mile to Third Street. Turn left onto Third Street and follow it for four blocks to Monte Vista, then follow green-and-white signs.

From I-10 west, exit Seventh Street, then turn right (north). The first major intersection is McDowell Road, Turn left onto McDowell and follow it to Central Avenue. Turn right on Central Avenue, after the second traffic light, you'll find the Heard Museum on the right.

There's plenty of free parking on the grounds.