Featured Artist: Jesse Yazzie, Diné Muralist
For Diné artist Jesse Yazzie, art has been a way to make sense of life's challenges, celebrate family, and find a path forward. His colorful murals bring together personal experiences, cultural influences, and the people who have helped shape his life. Through his work, Yazzie shares stories that are deeply personal while connecting with others who have faced their own struggles and moments of change.
In January 2021, Yazzie was selected as the first artist for UNCONTAINED, a public art project organized by Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation and its arts partners in downtown Phoenix. The project invited four Indigenous and Latino artists to transform an 8-by-20-foot shipping container into an outdoor exhibition, with a new artist featured each quarter.
Triumph Over Tragedy, Jesse Yazzie's mural
This mural marked an important chapter in his life. Completed just four months after his release from prison, the painting reflects his experiences with substance abuse, difficult relationships, and incarceration. Rather than hide those parts of his past, Yazzie used his art to share what he had experienced and what helped him keep moving forward.
The mural is filled with vivid colors, two larger-than-life skeletal figures, and a clock at its center. Among its many details, the clock carries a particularly meaningful connection to his family. Its hands point to 5:24, representing May 24, his daughter's birthday.
Speaking about his time in prison, Yazzie explained how thoughts of his daughter helped him through some of his most difficult days.
“She was the center of my sanity, really. I had to focus on her while inside. Your mind races. And it just builds and builds to the point where you have to stay positive or else you could go under.”
For Yazzie, painting became a place to reflect on his experiences, hold on to what mattered most, and imagine what his life could become. Triumph Over Tragedy brought those feelings into a public space where people could encounter his story, perhaps recognize something of their own experiences, and see the person behind the artwork.
Yazzie has continued contributing to Phoenix's public art community, including a collaboration with artist Isaac Caruso on a mural honoring civil rights leader Calvin Goode. His work reflects the many ways contemporary Indigenous artists contribute to the cultural life of Arizona, bringing their own voices, perspectives, and experiences into the places where people live and gather.
At the Museum of Indigenous People, sharing the stories of artists like Jesse Yazzie helps visitors discover the diversity of Indigenous creativity today. His work reminds us that art is not only about preserving cultural traditions, but also about expressing the lives, relationships, and experiences of Indigenous people in the present.
Learn More about Jesse
KJZZ — 'UNCONTAINED': Container Mural Project Spotlights Arizona Indigenous and Latino Artists in Phoenix's Roosevelt Row Arts District (January 25, 2021) https://www.kjzz.org/2021-01-25/content-1653500-uncontained-container-mural-project-spotlights-arizona-indigenous-and-latino-artists
KJZZ — Emerging Indigenous and Latino Artists Selected to Paint Murals in Downtown Phoenix (January 19, 2021) https://www.kjzz.org/2021-01-19/content-1651951-emerging-indigenous-and-latino-artists-selected-paint-murals-downtown-phoenix
Cronkite News — Murals in Phoenix's Roosevelt Row Arts District Feature Indigenous and Latino Artists (January 28, 2021) https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/01/28/murals-in-phoenixs-roosevelt-row-arts-district-feature-indigenous-and-latino-artists/
PHOENIX Magazine — Three New Murals in Downtown Phoenix (April 22, 2021) https://www.phoenixmag.com/?p=108290
Hope Lives – Vive la Esperanza — Our Mural https://hopelivesaz.org/mural
