Hopi mesa sites (Walpi, Oraibi) are highly culturally sensitive; depict at distance
— — rooftops nine centuries old.
Not only on a wall.
“Walpi sits on the narrow southern tip of First Mesa, where the rock falls away on three sides. Oraibi, about an hour west on Third Mesa, has been continuously inhabited since around 1100 CE. Both are living villages, not ruins. Photography, sketching, and recording are not permitted there. The tile keeps its distance, the way the villages have always been seen from the road below. — from the studio
Hopi mesa sites (Walpi, Oraibi) are highly culturally sensitive; depict at distance, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Walpi sits on the narrow southern point of First Mesa, perched on a tongue of sandstone where the rock drops on three sides. The village has been continuously inhabited at its present site since about 1690, when residents relocated up from the foot of the mesa after the Pueblo Revolt. Oraibi, about 35 miles west on Third Mesa, has been continuously inhabited since approximately 1100 CE, placing it among the oldest continuously occupied settlements in North America. Both villages are independently governed within the Hopi Tribe.
Walpi welcomes visitors only on guided tours that begin at the Ponsi Hall Visitor Center at the foot of First Mesa in the village of Sichomovi. Tour fees and hours are set by the village and change seasonally. Oraibi is open or closed at the discretion of the village; check with the Hopi Cultural Center on Second Mesa before traveling. Photography, sketching, audio recording, and video are prohibited at both villages and at all Hopi ceremonies. The rule is absolute and applies to phones.
From Arizona 264 the rooftops of Walpi read as a small dark profile on the rim of First Mesa, a mile away across open air. Oraibi sits low against Third Mesa in a way that almost vanishes into the rock. Both villages are built from stone the colour of the mesa itself, which is why they fade into the land at any distance. The artwork holds them at that distance, the way travelers are asked to receive the villages: looked at, not photographed.