Sally Black

Sally Black (born 1959, or 1962) is a Diné (Navajo) basketry artist. She lives in Monument Valley,[1] and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.[2]

Early life

Sally Black was born in either 1959,[3] or 1962.[4] She is the daughter of the weaver and basketry artist, Mary Holiday Black. She was brought up on the Douglas Mesa in southeastern Utah.[5][6] When she was eight years old she began weaving baskets, having learned the skills from her mother and grandmother.[1] At age 15 she sold her first basket; it was bought by the Heard Museum in Phoenix.[7][8]

Work

Sumac is the primary fiber she works with in both her pictorial and traditional baskets.[8] She gathers the sumac from areas around the Green River and Hanksville, Utah. She then splits the fiber by hand, and dyes it. She spends most of the winter months for the actual weaving.[9] In the 1970s she broke with tradition and began incorporating imagery into her basket designs including hummingbirds and eagles. Black has received honors and awards for her work, including a National Endowment for the Arts national heritage award.[1] Other honors include Best in Show awards from the Museum of Northern Arizona.[8] In 1975, she started using Navajo rug designs in her baskets. Later she incorporated Yei-Be-Chai figures, eagles, turtles, dear, horses and dogs.[8] Black has stated that her designs are also influenced by the Tohono O'odham and the Apache peoples.[2]

Collections

Her work is included in the permanent collections of the Natural History Museum of Utah,[5] the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art,[10] the Heard Museum,[11] and the National Museum of the American Indian, among other venues.

Personal life

In 2021, Black's home in Monument Valley burned to the ground. Her belongings, including all of her weaving supplies, unfinished commissioned baskets and traditional clothing were destroyed. Her partner, Ryan Thompson, who was in the house at the time, perished in the fire.[7][9]

References

  1. ^ abc"Designing woman: Basket weaver Sally Black". Santa Fe New Mexican, Pasatiempo. Archived from the original on 7 April 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  2. ^ ab"Inspiration". Sally Black Basket Weaver. Archived from the original on 4 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  3. ^"Baskets". Heard Museum. Archived from the original on 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2025-03-10. Sally Black, Diné, b. 1959
  4. ^"Sally Black North American Indian, Navajo, born 1962". Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  5. ^ ab"Collections: Sally Black". Natural History Museum of Utah. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  6. ^"Contemporary Navajo Baskets on the Utah Reservation, Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 3, 2006". Issuu. Archived from the original on 2024-06-13. Retrieved 2025-03-10.
  7. ^ ab"Basket weaver starts over after losing all in fire". Navajo Times. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  8. ^ abcd"Sally Black, Diné of the Navajo Nation Weaver". Adobe Gallery. Archived from the original on 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  9. ^ ab"Renowned Navajo artist devastated by loss of partner and home to fire". Salt Lake City Fox 13. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  10. ^"Collections: North American Indian Art: Sally Black". Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
  11. ^"Sally Black". Heard Museum. Retrieved 4 March 2025.
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