An Invitation from the Arizona Guild

Field Trip to the Heard Museum: The Jewelry of Richard I. Chavez

Presented in partnership with the Metro Phoenix GIA Alumni Guild.

For the first time in his 40+ year career, Richard Chavez’s jewelry will be featured in a retrospective exhibition. Since his early years of jewelry design and execution, Chavez has continued to painstakingly make each item by hand.

An artist who enjoys designing, Chavez places an emphasis on stone selection, placement and presentation. Chavez is one of the Southwest’s leading jewelers, whose works are recognized for complex inlay, architectural sensibilities and striking color patterning.

Richard Chavez (San Felipe Pueblo, b. 1949) having an architectural background, Chavez taught himself jewelry making through diligence, and trial and error. He entered his first competition, the Eight Northern Indian Pueblo Arts and Crafts Show, in 1976. Winning the grand prize for a white mother-of-pearl necklace, ring and bracelet set sparked Chavez’s jewelry-making career.