he art split between Heard, Museum of the West

Phoenix supermarket magnate Eddie Basha loved his Native and Western art collection. After amassing an impressive collection of more than 2,000 pieces, he built a gallery to house it all and welcomed the public to see it free of charge.

Now that gallery is closing, and two metro Phoenix art museums will assume stewardship of the Eddie Basha Collection of American Indian and Western American fine art.

The Heard Museum will accept the Indigenous art, and Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West will give Basha’s Western art collection a new home and a new wing to display it. The donation will be formalized Monday at the Basha Gallery, located at the Bashas’ Support Center in South Chandler.

Basha began collecting art in 1971 after his aunt suggested he get a hobby. Nadine Basha, Eddie’s widow, said his love of Western art came after becoming friends with painter John Clymer.

“Eddie would stay at John’s home in Wyoming,” Nadine said. “John sparked his collection of Western art.”

‘Every piece had a story’

Eddie Basha, who had a bachelor’s degree in history from Stanford, was particularly interested in the history behind each painting, kachina doll, basket or pot, Nadine Basha said.

“Every piece had a story,” she said. Basha also sought to know the stories of the artists who created the art. Although some pieces, like baskets, came to the collection with no artists’ names noted, Basha still loved every piece, as does Nadine.

Eventually, the collection grew to include art that spans three centuries, including rare and important examples of paintings, sculpture, jewelry, pottery, kachina dolls and basketry from the Akimel O’odham, Tohono O’odham, Yavapai, Apache, Hopi and Navajo tribes, members of the Cowboy Artists of America and many other artists.

Basha forged relationships with several artists, including Clymer and Hopi carver Cecil Calnimptewa, Nadine said.

Basha also wanted the public to enjoy his collection and built the gallery to house his growing treasure trove of art. The gallery was always free to the public.

Basha even managed to keep the collection intact through the company’s 2009-2011 Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Basha died in 2013 at 75.

Art collection needed to move after company sale

In 2021, the Basha family sold the 113-store chain, which includes supermarkets in several tribal communities, to California-based Raley’s Holding Company.

When the family learned the building would no longer be occupied, Nadine Basha said they had to make a decision.

“What do you do with 2,000 pieces of art?” she said.

Soon, the Museum of the West approached the Bashas with an offer to house the Western art in a new home. The Heard followed suit.

The offer appealed to the family since the collection would still be intact and remain in Arizona.

“It’s what Eddie would have wanted,” Nadine Basha said.

Heard Museum CEO David M. Roche said the Basha family’s “extraordinary gift” would enhance its collection and help tell the story of a towering Arizona figure, Eddie Basha.” Every work in the collection tells a story of the community the art came from and showcases the contributions Native artists have made to the arts and culture of Arizona, he said.

“We look forward to sharing these works of Indigenous creation from the Basha Collection with visitors to the Heard Museum, in perpetuity,” Roche said, “and hope that the Arizona community will share in the pride we feel as stewards of these precious works of art.”

Todd Bankofier, CEO of the Scottsdale museum, cited Eddie Basha’s vision that “art is meant to be shared.”

“We are honored to be a custodian of that vision by exhibiting his collection as well as his legacy in the heart of Old Town Scottsdale,” Bankofier said.

Basha’s first purchase, a miniature bronze of a cowboy by sculptor Don Polland, remains in the collection and continues to remind Basha of his love for the West.

“Eddie’s collection was founded upon advice from his Aunt Zelma, ‘collect what you love,'” Bankofier said.

Nadine Basha said the two museums would work together on exhibits.

Though she knows the collection will have new homes and still be enjoyed by visitors, Nadine Basha said the move to donate the collection was bittersweet.

But, she said, “It’s the right thing to do.”

The gallery will be open through Nov. 30.

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @debkrol. 

Coverage of Indigenous issues at the intersection of climate, culture and commerce is supported by the Catena Foundation.