Lovena Ohl: The Heard Shop, Her Gallery and the Foundation
Lovena Ohl (1908–1994) managed the Heard Museum shop in Phoenix in the 1960s, then opened her own gallery in Scottsdale in 1977. The books tie her to jewelers she represented, showed or encouraged, among them Charles Loloma, Larry Golsh, James Little and Charles Supplee. A foundation in her name gave yearly cash awards to Indian artists. [1][2][3][4]
KEY POINTS
- Dubin writes that she managed the Heard Museum shop in the 1960s; her great-nephew Bill Faust recalled that she stayed until about 1969. [1][2]
- She opened the Lovena Ohl Gallery in Scottsdale in 1977, with John Van Itallie as her partner, according to the Heard Museum's artist thesaurus. [1][4]
- Dubin calls Charles Loloma a longtime close friend and says she represented him for years. Faust recalled that Loloma went with her to the new gallery. [1][2]
- In March 1994 she received the Arizona Governor's Art Award. The Lovena Ohl Foundation, funded from gallery profits and public contributions, made yearly cash awards to Indian artists. [1]
- She died in September 1994, aged eighty-six. [1]
The Heard Museum shop
Her road to the Heard ran through Phoenix retail. Her great-nephew Bill Faust, interviewed for Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 171), recalled that she brought his father to Arizona in 1946, when the boy was six and sick with asthma. After selling the insurance agency she had in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Faust said, she took a job at Clay Smith, a downtown Phoenix gallery, where she learned turquoise from Smith himself. [2]
Faust credited the banker Walter Bimson of Valley National Bank with recommending her to the Heard Museum. In his telling the museum's shop was selling tourist trinkets when she arrived. She stayed until about 1969 and, in his words, transformed it into “what is now a world-class museum retail store.” [2]
Dubin (1999, p. 521) writes that as manager of the shop in the 1960s, Ohl found talented artists and campaigned to teach the public about Indian art, which was then only vaguely understood. Pardue (2007, p. 17) records that Charles Loloma sold jewelry to the shop while she ran it. [1][3]
Her gallery, from 1977
The Lovena Ohl Gallery opened in Scottsdale in 1977. The Heard Museum's artist thesaurus names her partner, John Van Itallie, and Gene Waddell, interviewed by Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 220), recalled that she “was starting an Indian art gallery” with Van Itallie and that he met Van Itallie through her. [1][2][4]
Loloma came with her. Faust recalled that when she started her own gallery, “Charles went along with her,” and Dubin calls him a longtime close friend and says she represented him for years. Dubin also prints the advice she gave him; it is quoted under From the Library below. [1][2]
Her shop also brought jewelers together. Pardue (2007, p. 36) writes that “Golsh met French jeweler Pierre Touraine at Ohl's shop,” and Baxter (2000, p. 63) names the Lovena Ohl Gallery among Larry Golsh's galleries. Pardue (p. 128) writes that Touraine later introduced Charles Supplee to her, around 1985, and that Supplee's first gallery show came from her. [3][5]
The two main accounts of James Little date his start with her differently. Dubin (1999, p. 544) writes that in 1979 Little took first place at the Heard Museum's and the Museum of Northern Arizona's Indian art shows and joined the newly established gallery's artists, and that in 1980 the Lovena Ohl Foundation paid for his schooling, therapy and the operations that gave him partial hearing. [1] Pardue (2007, p. 43) puts Little's top awards at those two museums in 1976, says the photographer Jerry Jacka encouraged him to show his work to Ohl, and names him the Foundation's third award winner, in 1981, and again in 1982 and 1983. [3]
The trader C. G. Wallace also placed pieces with her. Ryan & Chambless (2020, p. 137), retelling Faust, write that after Wallace's collection was auctioned in 1975 he chose her Scottsdale gallery to sell some of what was left, including a nugget he insisted on pricing at $150,000. [2]
Faust named Harvey Begay among the jewelers he worked with through her, and remembered that Begay always teased her and she gave it back. Dubin links Ohl and Harvey's father, Kenneth Begay, through a picture credit: a Kenneth Begay bracelet, shown with a Harvey Begay necklace, is captioned “Courtesy Lovena Ohl Gallery” (1999, p. 543). [1][2]
The Foundation and her honors
Dubin (1999, p. 521) records her honors. The Heard Museum named the Lovena Ohl Studio and Exhibition Gallery for her. In March 1994 she received the Arizona Governor's Art Award for her contribution to the “development and achievements of American Indian artists,” an award that also recognized the Lovena Ohl Foundation. The foundation was paid for from gallery profits and public contributions, and its yearly cash awards let Indian artists pay for education, travel or anything else that would build their art. [1]
Pardue describes the same foundation more briefly, as a fund set up to help young artists. [3] Ohl died in September 1994, aged eighty-six, and her memorial service was held in Phoenix. [1]
Legacy
Dubin's 1999 picture credits still name the Lovena Ohl Gallery (pp. 543–544). [1] According to the Heard's thesaurus, under Denise Grogger the Lovena Ohl Gallery and the Waddell Gallery merged to form the Lovena Ohl/Waddell Gallery, recorded there in 2003. [4]
Dubin places her in a longer line of Southwestern museums and organizations that encouraged Indian art, a line that includes, in Dubin's words, “since 1922, the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup and Indian Market in Santa Fe.” [1]
Field Notes by Mateo James
The books disagree on James Little's dates. Dubin puts his museum wins and his move to the gallery in 1979 and the foundation's help in 1980; Pardue puts the wins in 1976 and his first Foundation Award in 1981. We print each writer's dates as that writer gives them.
Her dates rest on two sources that agree: the Heard Museum gives 1908–1994, and Dubin says she died in September 1994, aged eighty-six. Neither gives her birthplace or birthday.
From the Library
What 3 reference books say about Lovena Ohl, grouped by topic. Every passage names its book and page; full references are under Sources.
These are statements recorded by outside writers between 1999 and 2020, several of them the recollections of people who knew her, as the writers set them down.
The Heard Museum shop3 passages · 3 books
Dubin (1999) quotes the Kiowa writer N. Scott Momaday, speaking at the gallery's tenth-anniversary party, on her years at the Heard:
“she came to be known as an authority on American Indian arts, someone to seek out, to ask for sound advice, to trust.”
Momaday, as quoted in Dubin (1999), pp. 520–521 AS OF 1999 [1]
Bill Faust, her great-nephew, describes the shop she took over:
“At the time, the museum's gift shop sold touristy trinkets.”
Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 172 AS OF 2020 [2]
According to Pardue (2007, p. 17), Charles Loloma sold jewelry to several galleries, the Heard Museum Shop among them, while Ohl managed it; his first one-man show at the museum came in December 1971. [3]
Her gallery and its artists4 passages · 3 books
Dubin (1999) prints Ohl's own advice to Charles Loloma, in part:
“Learn to do everything; to work with all stones and gold, not only silver.”
Dubin (1999), p. 521 AS OF 1999 [1]
Dubin (1999) quotes an artist she does not name:
“Dealing with Lovena is less a representation than a collaboration, a creative partnership between artist and gallery.”
Dubin (1999), p. 521 AS OF 1999 [1]
Gene Waddell, interviewed for Ryan & Chambless (2020), on the gallery's start:
“Lovena Ohl was starting an Indian art gallery with a guy named John van Itallie.”
Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 220 AS OF 2020 [2]
Pardue (2007) on Charles Supplee, whom Pierre Touraine introduced to her around 1985:
“Ohl, who was known for her interest in encouraging young American Indian artists, gave Supplee his first gallery show.”
Pardue (2007), p. 128 AS OF 2007 [3]
The Foundation and her memorial3 passages · 3 books
According to Pardue (2007, p. 43), James Little was the Foundation's third award winner, in 1981, and received the award again in 1982 and 1983. [3]
At her memorial service in Phoenix, Dubin (1999) records, the Reverend William Dowling of Grace Lutheran Church said:
“There was no such thing as a customer, everyone was a friend.”
Dowling, as quoted in Dubin (1999), p. 521 AS OF 1999 [1]
Faust recalls a saying of hers, in his words:
“Lovena always said diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but turquoise would be one of her better investments”
Ryan & Chambless (2020), p. 172 AS OF 2020 [2]
Frequently asked questions
Who was Lovena Ohl?
A Phoenix and Scottsdale gallerist (1908–1994). She managed the Heard Museum shop in the 1960s, opened the Lovena Ohl Gallery in Scottsdale in 1977, and, according to Pardue (2007, p. 128), was known for her interest in encouraging young American Indian artists.
When did the Lovena Ohl Gallery open?
In 1977, in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Heard Museum's artist thesaurus names John Van Itallie as her partner.
What was the Lovena Ohl Foundation?
A fund built from the gallery's profits and public contributions. According to Dubin, it made yearly cash awards that Indian artists could use for schooling, travel or anything else that developed their art.
Which jewelers were connected with Lovena Ohl?
The books connect her with Charles Loloma, whom she represented for years, and with Larry Golsh, James Little, Charles Supplee and Harvey Begay.
A note on accuracy. We strive for accuracy, and this page is continuously updated with new information from the artists, their families, and the community. Corrections welcome.
Sources
- Dubin, Lois Sherr. North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment: From Prehistory to the Present. Original photography by Togashi, Paul Jones, and others. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1999. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1999.
- Ryan, Mike, II, and Philip Chambless. Turquoise in America, Part Two: 1910–1990. Callais Press, 2020. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2020.
- Pardue, Diana F., with the Heard Museum. Contemporary Southwestern Jewelry. Photography by Craig Smith. Layton, UT: Gibbs Smith, 2007. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2007.
- Heard Museum, Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives. Native American Artists Resource Collection thesaurus, entries “Lovena Ohl Gallery” and “Lovena Ohl/Waddell Gallery,” generated August 30, 2024.
- Baxter, Paula A., with Allison Bird-Romero. Encyclopedia of Native American Jewelry: A Guide to History, People, and Terms. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 2000. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 2000.