Artist Talk: Corey Begay
On Friday, March 7, 2025, Tó Nizhóní Ání (TNA) organized our first open house/artist talk during the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Flagstaff, Arizona. Despite the snow that accumulated all day, we continued with our event, with less than 20 people in attendance.
This past year our organization has expanded our workspace and in doing so has had the pleasure of incorporating the artwork of Corey Begay, a local Diné artist from the community of Cedar Springs on the Navajo Nation. Corey’s work titled Tó bee Iiná, is Diné for Water is Life or literally, “with water is life.” His work speaks directly to the spiritual connection we all have with water and how critical it is to all life on earth. “Water is Life” is also the foundation for the work we do at Tó Nizhóní Ání, whose mission is to protect the environment and water from new fossil development. “Water is Life,” keeps us focused as we continue to guide our communities to a carbon-free and sustainable future where our children and the next 4 generations can have access to clean water, and air in their homelands.
During our artist talk event, Corey shared his journey in creating the Tó Bee Iiná mural. Inspired by the headwaters of the Little Colorado River, Corey’s mural incorporates Black Mesa’s northern edge, the Chuska Mountains, Big Mountain, Grey Mountain, and Dził Dook’o’osłííd. Our evening was filled with laughter and good food, such as blue corn mush with walnuts and berries, blue corn tamales, and Navajo Tea and coffee.
We are happy to support and be entrusted with the work of local artists such as Corey Begay. You can find another one of Coreys murals downtown just north of the restaurant, Martannes. Both murals share the Tó bee Iiná “Water is Life” theme. Another artwork housed in the TNA office is that of world-renowned artist Shonto Begay and Hunter Redday.
Tó Nizhóní Ání would like to thank everyone for joining us during our first open house as we celebrated the work of Corey Begay. For more information on this event, email [email protected]. Ahéhee’!
