Mesa, AZ - The Art Collection That Groceries Built

‘Advice is like a pot of chili: you’ve got to sample a little yourself before you give it to others.’ Anon.

I’ll bet that none of you have ever gone to a grocery store corporate headquarters to find art. Well, today we’re going to visit a marvelous private collection of Western Native and Cowboy Art which is displayed in the Basha’s corporate headquarters. Basha’s is a local, family owned grocery store in Arizona with 160 stores total in its chain. It was started when Najeeb Basha and his wife Najeeby Srour, both Lebanese immigrants, moved with their family to Ray, AZ in 1910. He opened a store which burned, built another and specialized in groceries and household goods like furniture and other dry goods.

His sons, Eddie and Ike, continued the tradition and gravitated to the ‘supermarket’ format which started in the 1950’s. As a child, Eddie was cared for by his aunt Zelma who, as an artist herself, introduced him to art, especially that at the Cowboy Artists Show. And, he began to collect - such that his collection today contains more than 3000 pieces ranging from oil paintings, to pencil drawings to pottery, to statuary, Hopi Katsinas, Zuni Fetishes, basketry complemented by an extensive Native Artists gallery. There is also a large gun collection and many cards designed by artists and sent to Eddie for his birthday, Christmas, etc.

Because he was one of the leaders of the corporation, the Basha’s corporate headquarters has an extensive collection of art which it displays to the public free of charge. I was able to peek into one of the hallways of the corporate offices and it was lined with art. Imagine being able to see all this wonderful art as you passed to and fro during your ordinary day at work. Certainly would brighten your day and add some beauty.

But what an amazing collection of art they have displayed in this museum. We went with Shirley and Jerry and none of us expected to stay 3 hours but we left there at 12:30, 3 hours after we had arrived. We got lost several times as we wandered through all the various galleries but we were enchanted rather than lost. It was an amazing collection.

One highlighted artist, Joe Beeler, was a personal friend of Eddie Basha. He painted and sculpted and many of both of these mediums are contained in this museum. Here is a sculpture of his near the entry to the museum.

Another artist featured in the museum, John Clymer, painted many scenes of historical interest. Here is a work showing the Lewis and Clark expedition crossing the Bitteroot Mts. It is getting close to dusk and the Indian trail they are following is faded. ‘in many places we had nothing to guide us except the branches of the trees, which, being low, have been rubbed bare by the burdens of the Indian horses.’ They were cold, wet, hungry and far from a suitable camp site. Sacajawea is also pictured here riding a horse.

Clymer also painted many covers for the Saturday Evening Post which are collected in a loose-leaf notebook for you to look through.

Here are a few of the other paintings and art work in the collection. Each of these wooden sculptures is from one piece of wood - there is no glue. Obviously the artist either found the right shaped and sized wood to make his vision or developed his vision to fit the wood he had.

There were several rooms of kachinas.

I especially like the colors in the one at the end.

Wonderful museum highlighting Western art from many angles. I’d recommend you stop in if you’re ever in Phoenix.