PHOENIX, AZ.- The Heard Museum’s first exhibition in the new year, Storyteller: The Photography of Jerry Jacka, opened on Jan. 24, 2025. Jacka, a Phoenix native, was one of the most widely published photographers in the Southwest, having devoted more than 50 years to photographing the region and its people.

“Jerry Jacka’s award-winning photography has profoundly influenced how generations of people think and feel about the landscapes of the American Southwest,” said David M. Roche, Heard Museum CEO. “Of particular interest to the Heard Museum are his portraits of Native American artists, which reveal the people behind the works of art that we share with our visitors. The gift of the Jerry Jacka archive to the Heard makes us stewards of one of the largest and most consequential collections of documentary photography of Native American artists in the nation.”

In 2024, the Heard Museum received a landmark gift of the Jerry Jacka archive, which makes the institution stewards of one of the largest and most consequential collections of documentary photography of Native American artists in the Nation. Storyteller: The Photography of Jerry Jacka is an original exhibition that features Jacka’s portraits of iconic American Indian artists paired with examples of their artwork from the museum’s collection.

Museum visitors will experience images of artists, primarily from the American Southwest, engaged in a range of activities related to traditional cultural practices including weaving, pottery, kachina-carving, and jewelry making. The exhibition also features images from his award-winning contributions to Arizona Highways Magazine. Jacka’s award-winning photography has profoundly influenced how generations of people think and feel about the people and landscapes of the American Southwest.

As a young boy, Jacka rode horseback for miles through the countryside around his home. With a 4x5 camera, borrowed from his high school photo department, he began to capture the mountains and deserts of his homeland. At the age of 16, his first award-winning photograph was published; an image of a live rattlesnake coiled on a bleached cow skull.

He received numerous awards including the Communication Arts Award for his outstanding documentary of the Hopi Indians; the National Cowboy Hall of Fame award for the Most Outstanding Art Book of 1988; a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award and more.

Storyteller: The Photography of Jerry Jacka is made possible thanks to Susan Esco Chandler and Alfred D. Chandler, and Lily Chester in memory of Sheldon Chester.