Navajo weavings donated to Farmington Museum

FARMINGTON, N.M. – A museum in northwestern New Mexico will be receiving hundreds of Navajo weavings from the estate of former Farmington Mayor Robert Culpepper.

The Farmington Museum announced the gift Monday, saying some pieces date from the 1920s and others were done by contemporary weavers.

Officials say several of the rugs, such as the Wide Ruins and Chinle styles, fill gaps within the museum’s existing collection.

The Farmington Museum plans to keep the best examples from the collection. The rest will be sold to benefit the museum along with the new Museum of Navajo Art & Culture.

Culpepper, who died last year, and his wife had purchased a historic building and donated it to the city in 2013 to create the Museum of Navajo Art & Culture. That museum opened last year.