The University of Scranton Programming Board (USPB) Mission Committee and the Multicultural Center invite all to experience a presentation by native storyteller and dancer, Larry Yazzie on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. at the DeNaples Center Ballroom, Room 407. 

“Larry Yazzie NATIVE | STORYTELLER | DANCER” is presented by the actor, a two-time World Champion Fancy Dancer and Eagle Dancer from the Meskwaki Nation in Tama, Iowa. Yazzie is the founder and artistic director for Native Pride Productions, Inc. based in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Yazzie’s repertoire includes performances worldwide, including at the Olympics, The Kennedy Center and the Smithsonian Institution. 

The international lecturer, dancer and educator is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on Native American dance. In May 2010, he and his son, Jessup, were the sole U.S. performers invited for presentations and workshops throughout northern France.

Yazzie founded Native Pride Productions to give back to his community and to the world. His goal: to share cultural traditions through artist-in-residency workshops, performances, lectures, classroom instruction and theatrical performances that enhance access to diverse, multicultural artists for people of all ages and backgrounds. His warm, enthusiastic spirit reflects the beauty of Indigenous people. Following the tradition of his elders, he gives back and enriches the lives of all audiences.

For questions or information, contact Jose Sanchez at jose.sanchez@scranton.edu or Julie Chropowicki at julie.chropowicki@scranton.edu.

Before his death in 2013, Eddie Basha fed thousands of families, expanding from modest stores around Chandler into an Arizona supermarket empire.

But he also had an artistic view that saw far beyond utilitarian needs.

“Art is food for the soul,” Eddie Basha used to say. “Don’t leave the table hungry!”

Years after his death, the man called “an Arizona giant” by Gov. Katie Hobbs filled the tables of two museums.

On Oct. 9, the Basha family announced the gift of the Eddie Basha Collection of American Indian and Western American fine art to the Heard Museum and Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.

Fitting in many ways, a ceremony was held at the Zelma Basha Salmeri Gallery of Western American and American Indian Art in Chandler – on the site of the first Bashas’ store.

The family sold the chain of more than 100 stores to Raley’s two years ago.

Though the Bashas’ Gallery – which opened in 1992 – will close Nov. 30, Eddie Basha’s collection will find homes in two nearby museums that gushed over the donation.

“My family and I are delighted to make this gift to the Heard Museum and Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West,” said Nadine Basha, Eddie’s widow.

“We are confident that these two world-class institutions will be excellent partners in fulfilling Eddie’s wish to continue to share the collection and have it remain in Arizona.”

Hobbs and Stephen Roe Lewis, governor of the Gila River Indian Community, spoke at the Basha Gallery in Chandler.

Both governors noted it was fitting for the Basha donation to take place on Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

The Bashas’ Gallery is on the site of the first Bashas’ store, built in 1932, Hobbs noted.

“The Pimas were some of the first Bashas’ customers,” she said.

Lewis added his community has “longtime ties to the Basha family.”

Eddie Basha, Lewis said, “understood our culture, our history …

He knew our language – and used to sing a couple of our songs.”

Chandler native Edward “Eddie” Najeeb Basha Jr., who died in 2013, was the chairman and CEO of Bashas’ Inc. After taking over Bashas’ when his father died, he whipped up an expansion of the small company to a chain of 160 stores.

But his family taught him to have as much love for art as cash registers. In 1971, under the encouragement and guidance of his aunt Zelma, Eddie began collecting art inspired by and reflecting the American West.

“At Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, we believe in Eddie Basha Jr.’s vision that ‘art is meant to be shared’ and we are honored to be a custodian of that vision,” said Todd Bankofier, CEO of the Scottsdale museum.

Gold strike for Scottsdale

Last month, the Scottsdale City Council unanimously approved expanding Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West – funded via a $12 million donation from Louis “Buzz” Sands IV.

The spirit of a second Valley businessman-philanthropist doubled down with a move that may be almost as valuable as the Sands’ gift, as the Basha family is donating hundreds of rare pieces to Western Spirit.

At the Basha donation event, Bankofier praised Sands’ stunning gift – “the largest donation made to an art museum in Arizona history.”

In an extraordinary slice of serendipity, the new gallery funded by Sands will house the collection of Eddie Basha, a kindred spirit in both philanthropy and art.

Sands, according to Bankofier, “knew Eddie Basha well, and was often an art bidding rival at Cowboy Artists of America auctions.”

Jim Bruner, the founding chairman of Western Spirit, chuckled as he recalled starting a nonprofit group in 2007, which had a big idea but nothing tangible.

“We had no money,” Bruner said. “We had no art. We had no location. We just had an idea and a dream that we should somehow make a western museum a reality in Scottsdale.”

Eddie Basha was one of the first people Bruner called for help.

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West opened in January 2015. The museum celebrates Western Heritage by showcasing art, culture and traditions of the West that reflect the greater American West region.

The Eddie Basha Collection is billed as “one of the largest, privately-owned art collections of its kind.”

The stunning gift to the Scottsdale and Phoenix museums includes 1,000 works of art that span three centuries, including paintings, sculpture, jewelry, pottery, katsina and basketry from the Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, Yavapai, Apache, Hopi and Navajo tribes, members of the Cowboy Artists of America and many other artists.

“The collection reflects Eddie’s deep, lifelong passion for the American West, its vast lands, storied history, many cultures, and rich traditions,” Nadine Basha said.

“Eddie often said, ‘Iam of the American West,’ and that sentiment is richly embedded in this collection.”

While it will take weeks to move the entire collection, a few of Eddie Basha’s favorites are already installed at Western Spirit.

Bruner said it was hard to express in words what the Basha family’s donation of Eddie’s extraordinary pieces means to him.

“I just wish that he were here to see what’s happening,” Bruner said. “But hopefully he’s looking down on us.”

PRICE, Utah — An exhibition of paintings by Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Bevziuk, entitled Let It Be, is on view at Gallery East from Oct. 9 through Nov. 3 on the campus of Utah State University Eastern.

In February 2022, when Russian troops invaded the eastern provinces of Ukraine, Bevziuk had no idea he’d end up exiled with his family in Ferron, Utah. But that’s exactly what happened to this native of Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan. An old friend and longtime Ferron resident, Ben Wolford, and his wife, Sarah, gave Bevziuk’s family refuge from the war-torn country and a chance to find a new life away from the turbulence more than 5,700 miles away.

Born in 1969 to Ukrainian parents who were then working in Uzbekistan, the boy began exhibiting skills in drawing at age 3 and continued to excel in art as he progressed in elementary school after the family returned to Ukraine. Bevziuk’s parents and teachers soon noticed his abilities, giving him additional assignments to participate in drawing competitions.

Later, in middle school, he continued making mural art and attending extracurricular drawing classes in art school. During high school, he studied artistic design. He continued in art and design for two years in technical school and finished with high grades.

Later, Bevziuk served in the two-year mandatory Soviet army. After he married in his mid-20s, Volodymyr started a family, and built a career in construction, finishing apartments and houses. It wasn’t until about age 40 that he decided to go back to developing his drawing skills.

He started attending master classes, learning through videos on the internet, reading and putting his training to practice in his paintings. A few of his paintings were selected to be displayed in local exhibitions next to other artists.

After arriving in Utah more than a year ago, Bevziuk began painting the farmhouses, bookcliffs, mountains and fields dotted with horses in Emery County, his new (though temporary) home. His paintings indeed show a love of working from nature and painting landscapes. He continues to seek his unique style and develop his skills.

This is Bevziuk’s first-ever solo exhibition. It was organized thanks to longtime friends Benjamin and Sarah Wolford and their newly-made neighbors in Ferron. Bevziuk continues to paint from his home in West Jordan where he resides with his family.

Let It Be will be on view through Nov. 3. Volodymyr Bevziuk will be at Gallery East for a closing reception and gallery talk from 6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3. Students, faculty, staff and the public are invited. The gallery is located in the Central Instruction Building.

The gallery is free and open to the public during the academic year. Gallery East’s Fall 2023 hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Closed weekends and holidays.

For questions, contact Noel Carmack at 435-613-5241 or by email at noel.carmack@usu.edu.