Kenneth Begay

Kenneth Begay (1913–1977) was a Diné (Navajo) silversmith and jewelry designer associated with the development of modernist Native American jewelry in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in Arizona, Begay became known for restrained, precisely fabricated silver jewelry that differed from the heavily stamped and stone-set work commonly produced for the Southwestern tourist trade. Begay has been described as the "father of contemporary Navajo jewelry".

Early life and education

Begay was born in 1913 in Steamboat Canyon, in the eastern part of the Navajo Nation in Arizona. He learned silversmithing from Diné silversmith Fred Peshlakai at the Fort Wingate Vocational High School in New Mexico during the 1930s, where he and Art Tafoya were among Peshlakai's apprentices.

Career

He demonstrated silverwork at Babbitt Brothers in Flagstaff, Arizona.

In the 1940s, Begay and his cousin Allen Kee joined John and Virginia Bonnell in the enterprise that became the White Hogan. The shop eventually moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where it became a center for modern Native American silverwork. He continued making jewelry until his death in 1977.

Begay's jewelry typically relies on the shape and finish of the silver itself rather than dense ornament. He also produced hollowware, flatware and jewelry incorporating materials such as turquoise and desert ironwood. In 1968, Begay was among a group of Native metalworkers, including Loloma, Monongye, the Zuni jeweler Eddie Beyuka and members of the Platero family, who entered solid gold pieces in the annual juried Indian art competitions in Arizona and New Mexico.

Exhibitions He and other White Hogan silversmiths were regular participants in the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial, an important competitive venue for Native American artists.

His work has continued to appear in museum exhibitions devoted to the development of modern Native American jewelry. The Arizona State Museum featured Begay in Ancient to Modern: Continuity and Innovation in Southwest Native Jewelry and in its associated discussion of White Hogan and the early modernists. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian also included Begay in its 2023 exhibition Always in Relation: Artworks from the Schultz Collection.

Museum collections Begay's work is represented in several museum collections. The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian describes its holdings as having a strong representation of his work and identifies him as one of the important mid-20th-century artists through whom the development of modernist Native jewelry can be traced. The museum's Schultz Collection contains works acquired from Begay during his years at White Hogan and later pieces made during the 1970s. The Newark Museum of Art also holds and exhibits Begay's work as part of its collection of Southwestern Native jewelry. Personal life

Begay's son, Harvey Begay (1938–2009), worked in his father's Scottsdale workshop while in high school and college and later became a jeweler and goldsmith. Awards Begay's work received numerous awards at Southwestern fairs and exhibitions during the 1950s.