Heard Museum — Attraction in Phoenix

Today I had the great pleasure of visiting the renowned Heard Museum in Phoenix Arizona. The experience was really quite enjoyable, as there were many different exhibitions housed in the maze of courtyards, balconies, elevators and sets f grandeur stairs. We even paid extra for the Henry Matisse collection and let me tell you it was worth every penny. Before we even made it to the front entrance, we were entertained with a beautiful walk through an outdoor sculpture garden nestled in between the walls of the compound. The Architecture of the estate is very traditional and open. Lush trees and refined landscaping almost eliminate the bustling downtown just feet away. Among the sculptures decorating the path the entrance is a beautiful set of reflecting fountains. Not one but two geometrical modern fountains and reflections pools steal you attention right before you enter. We were given the opportunity to attend some tours of the exhibits but opted instead to wander at our own leisure. In retrospect, the tours might have been less walking, as we had to backtrack multiple times to ensure we saw every exhibit. Though it was fun, exploring the many corridors and hallways of the beautiful building. If it doesn’t say employees only it’s free reign, and there is art hidden behind every accessible door. First on the self-guided tour was the Amazing Matisse collection. If you like tribal masks, and I sure do, then this is the collection for you. Now not only did this guy paint amazing stuff, but he had his own incredible collection of tribal masks. In one portion of the exhibit there were these side by side presentations. On the wall were half masks, or damaged mask and then next to them were Matisse paintings of the missing half or portions. His technique was so profound and life like, I had to double and triple check with my guest to ensure indeed, yes, they were just flat painting. His shadowing and 3d effects were incredulous to say the least. As we ventured further and further into this collection, the masks got bigger and more complex. Reading about their origins and uses took some time. We breezed through the rest of the museum, but here we really spent some time. This led to a few purchases on the beautiful gift shop I must say. Getting one of his original pieces would be something I enjoyed very much. I did score a cool mask print in the 2d technique and I can’t wait to frame and hang it. The rest of the exhibits all had a theme. Indian tribes from all over Arizona as well as the rest of western us including Alaska, were represented. In the galleries. Jewelry, baskets, baby cradles and clothing were shown in styles from each of the many tribes we have in Arizona. In these collections were some really cool art and day to day tools from many hundreds of years ago to even very recent art from local artisans. One of my favorite pieces from the collections was a rain suit made from seal intestines. It sounds gross, but it looked really cool and much like a plastic poncho. The ingenuity of the different tribes was amazing as they adapted to live in these harsh environments without the modern conveniences we all live with today. After a few hours and many trips up and down stairs, we settled down at a small table right next to one of the two reflecting pool and fountains. The weather was cool and sunny, and we ate and discussed what we had seen. The Heard museum experience was much better than I had hoped for. I look forward to future visits and...

I just really wasn't impressed. A great collection but most artifacts were cram-jammed together and nothing got its own space to be noticed.

Space isn't handicap friendly. They've done the bare minimum to accommodate but it feels very reluctant and reactive rather than proactive and accepting.

Navigating the place is confusing. There's signage but it's small. When we pulled into the parking lot and were looking for a place to park there were several different signs that said "Main Entrance" and we weren't sure where to actually go. It turns out none of the signs were right, you have to walk through the courtyard and figure it out in your own. I supposed that if you're walking out in the uncovered part of the courtyard the Main Entrance sign would be easy to see, but this is Arizona and a place tourists would want to visit...tourists who aren't used to this heat. Wanting to walk in the shade is common sense, even if it's not 105° like it was the day we went.

The vibe in the place was not great. We felt very unwanted and only one worker was interested in helping us when we were lost in the courtyard. As others have said there was a lot of security. I'm guessing they're worried about indigenous people coming to reclaim their artifacts, I don't know but it was very weird.

The gift shop had nothing under $50, it's what I call "eff you" pricing as in "eff you, you aren't good enough for our stuff so we're going to price you out of shopping here." The gift shop itself was hard to find, the sign that said "gift shop" was above a closed window, and down the way from that was a locked door that said "construction workers only."

For what you pay for the ticket this place is not worth it. We'd gone to the Musical Instrument Museum that morning, a place that's very inviting and interesting and it was way less to get in there. I would have paid Heard Museum prices for the Musical Instrument Museum, but paying that much for the Heard museum wasn't worth it.

Overall the place feels out of touch, the phrase "jealousy guarded" comes to mind, and some more thought could go into the displays. It reminds me of how kids want to show you all their toys at once and everything ends up in a jumble. Rotating artifacts would help with the cluttered displays.

All in all not really worth it unless you're very interested in the subject, either on a scholarly level or because the artifacts are related to...

I have been to the Heard Museum in the past and love everything they display...however this trip made me not want to go back.

We have been learning about the Native American history and so I took my kids to end the unit. Two friends of mine also brought their kids. It is advertised as "family friendly" but it is not. One employee in particular stalked us... I dont mean that to be funny. He literally followed us around. If I had stopped at a display and was reading a plaque to one kid and another kid chose to walk 10 feet away to keep looking at items, he would, no joke, herd them back to me and claim they had to be right by my side. They hadn't wandered to another exhibit. They hadn't wandered to another floor, they just walked a little ways away.

Not family friendly.

My kids were pretty good about not touching (my youngest is 4), but sometimes would accidentally touch the display glass when pointing at items... and immediately they were yelled at "no touching!" Remember... they were literally stalking us.

Not family friendly.

When a friend's child accidentally touched a display glass that was covering a quilt, another worker said loudly "now I have to call it in" and promptly walkie talkied that someone had touched the art... um... the art has glass over it...

Not family friendly.

They have an activity center area and we took the kids to play for a bit.. but it was hot in the room. So my friends and I stepped out of the room into the hallway and watched them through the glass. We could see every child. The worker decided they needed to come and make sure the kids were being supervised. Or so they claimed.. remember... they had been following us around..they knew those were our kids... the kids weren't doing anything the room wasn't designed for.

Not family friendly.

So while this museum offers wonderful history and exhibits... I would say, despite it being advertised as such, it is definitely not family friendly. I would have tried to stay and teach my kids more but by the time we left we all felt so stressed by our experience... I don't think we will be back.

Adults, go, enjoy the rich history. Anyone with kids.. if you want to go outside of a tour or field trip, I would NOT...