A powerful experience: Navajo Rug & Jewelry Show returns to Scottsdale | Things To Do

Featuring more than 200 traditional hand-woven Navajo rugs, jewelry and crafts with sale proceeds directly benefiting the weavers, the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program’s second Navajo Rug and Jewelry Show in Scottsdale returns to the Holland Community Center Feb. 16-18.

“It’s such a powerful event,” said Jennifer Rosvall, executive director of the Holland Community Center. “The most important thing we want people to understand when they come shopping here is that 100% of what they pay for a rug or piece of jewelry goes straight to that artist or weaver. Those weavers go home on Sunday evening with a check in their hand for everything they sold, and one lady said she could feed her family for a year with it. It’s unbelievable and so humbling.”

The special event will launch on Friday, Feb. 16, from 5 to 8 p.m. with a VIP preview and sale, which will offer attendees an early chance to purchase rugs, jewelry and crafts. Then, the free show will open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, and Sunday, Feb. 18.

Attendees will be able to browse and shop from the vast selection of rugs and jewelry for sale and speak to the weaver or artisan who created it. In addition to the items for sale, the event will feature weaving demonstrations, weaver stories, cultural teachings and a raffle of Navajo rugs.

According to Tim and Laurie Soule, a local couple sponsoring the event, it’s an incredible experience.

“It was a sight that will always be imprinted in our brains,” Laurie said about the first time she went to a Navajo Rug Show.

“As you glanced around the room, you saw actual elders up to the age of 92 sitting on the ground. They had looms on the floor and were dressed in their traditional tiered skirt and beautiful silver and turquoise jewelry and they would weave, so you saw the process and heard the story of what the rugs depict.”

The Soules were so touched by their experience that they got involved with Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program to do more.

For over 30 years Adopt-A-Native-Elder, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has used an integrated approach that goes beyond charity to help reduce the extreme poverty and hardship facing traditional elders living on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and Utah. Many elders reside in hogans without running water or electricity.

As a trusted humanitarian organization focused on delivering food, medical supplies, firewood and other forms of support, Adopt-A-Native-Elder is committed to respecting the tradition and dignity of Navajo elders, while building relationships that honor and serve them. The program was founded by Linda Myers, who still serves as director and will speak at the show each day. 

The organization has been facilitating the Navajo Rug Show for decades, but, after the pandemic, it needed a new venue. The Soules volunteered to help find a place and discovered the Holland Center.

“Within 15 minutes, we knew the Holland Center and Jennifer were a perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Tim said. “The Holland Center has even donated their space free of charge to host this workshop.”

Last year was the first time the Navajo Rug and Jewelry Show was hosted in Scottsdale, and it was highly successful. Rosvall said there were more than 1,200 people in attendance and 225 rugs on display.

This year, the goal is to have even more people come to learn about and support the native weavers and craftspeople.

“This event is truly one of my favorite things that we do,” Rosvall said, “to see what a difference it can make in the lives of these natives and to see the education and awareness we can give our community — because the show is not just about the sale, there’s a huge educational component about how the art of weaving is intertwined in their culture and how much it sustains them. That’s what we’re all about here at the Holland Center, educating with arts and culture, and this show just sums up everything that we do.”

Tickets for Friday night’s VIP event are $50 and can be purchased at the door or online at hollandcenter.org. The entrance fee includes a raffle ticket for a chance to win a handwoven rug that evening. The event will also feature a presentation by Navajo master weaver Rena Robertson, followed by talks by other weavers about their rugs. Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.

The Navajo Rug and Jewelry Show is free and no reservations are required. 

To learn more about Adopt-A-Native-Elder, visit anelder.org. For more information about the Scottsdale Navajo Rug & Jewelry Show, visit hollandcenter.org/event.