Steven J. Yazzie

2024-2026 Resource Artist

He/Him

Steven J. Yazzie (b.1970) is a multidisciplinary artist working in painting, installation, video/film and community. Yazzie is a member of the Navajo Nation and a veteran of the Gulf War, serving honorably with the United States Marine Corps, 1988-92.

He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Intermedia at Arizona State University and named 2014 outstanding graduate for the Herberger Institute for Design and Art; Yazzie was a Community Scholar for the Interdisciplinary Research Institute for the Study of (in)Equality, University of Denver, Colorado, 2019-20; Additionally, Yazzie was a founding member of Postcommodity, an indigenous arts collective, and the co-founder of the Museum of Walking.

Yazzie’s notable exhibitions include the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; National Museum of the American Indian, New York, NY; Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver Art Museum, Colorado; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Phoenix Art Museum, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Tucson Museum of Art in Arizona. Yazzie has been selected for the 2025 Sharjah Biennial 16, UAE. 

Yazzie has had residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine; Plug-In Institute of Contemporary Art Winnipeg, Canada; Museum of Contemporary Native Art, Social Engagement Residency, Santa Fe, NM; Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship, Indianapolis, IN; Native Artist in Residence, Denver Art Museum, Colorado, and is a 2024 Ucross Fellow, Wyoming. He lives and works in Denver, Colorado.