Phoenix, Arizona.- The Heard Museum is proud to present “The Art of Ceremony: American Indian Painting of the 20th Century” on view through September 3rd 2012. Drawn from the collection of the Heard Museum and of the Albion P. and Lynne G. Fenderson collection, the exhibition offers insight into Native artists’ visions of ceremonial life within their respective communities. Ceremony has been the principal subject of American Indian easel art since the early 1900’s. Whether depicting richly detailed single figures or a complex gathering, artists from many different regions have attempted to convey the power and beauty of ceremonies that are central to their lives. “Many of the works were created by people who know the ceremonies intimately,” says Dr. Ann Marshall, vice president of curation and education at the Heard. “For example, looking at the regalia depicted by Tonita Peña in her work ‘Animal Dancers,’ it is clear that she knew exactly and in detail how each figure should be clothed. She was a remarkable artist and the only Pueblo woman painting ceremonial subjects in the early decades of the 1900’s.