History of the Hopi Flute Player
In
1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the Public Works of Art Project
to place American-themed art works throughout the country. In just a few months,
the state of Arizona received 58 murals and paintings – and a model
for a decorative fountain in front of Old Main. Emry Kopta, who visited the
Hopi mesas in 1912 and decided to stay for 11 years, was commissioned to design
a centerpiece for the fountain. Taking inspiration from his years on the mesas,
Kopta began with a stone base that featured four kachinas in bas-relief. However,
lack of funding prevented the casting of the life-size bronze statue, which
was to sit atop the pedestal. In 2002, ASU decided to cast Hopi Flute Player
and install it in the Music Building courtyard, in accordance with the wishes
of the Hopi Tribe.
About the Artist
Born in Graz, Austria, in 1884, Emry Kopta studied at the San Francisco Art
Academy until it was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire. He continued
his studies in Paris, then returned to the United States and set up a sculpture
studio in Los Angeles. Kopta, in 1912, joined friends Lon Megargee and William
Leigh on an artist’s excursion to the Native American reservations of
northern Arizona and New Mexico. When the three visited the Hopi mesas, Kopta
declared, “This is where I shall work. The people here, especially their
elders, possess a great wisdom, which is reflected in their faces. I will
portray them faithfully.” A commission to create a memorial at Phoenix
Indian School to Native Americans who fought in World War I brought Kopta
to this area during the early 1920s. In addition to several sculpture commissions,
Kopta was chosen by architect Albert Chase MacArthur to design the decorative
blocks for the Arizona Biltmore. Other works can be found at the Heard Museum,
Phoenix; Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff; and the Arizona State Capitol
Building. Emry Kopta died in 1953.
The ASU Public Art Fund sponsored this project.
