The Collector
Judith Kennedy Lavender
“I have had the privilege of knowing remarkable artists, hearing their stories, learning from their lives, and sharing moments that reached far beyond the exchange of art.”
Judith grew up in Gallup, New Mexico, one of eight children in a trading family. Childhood unfolded among stacks of Navajo weavings at the family trading post, at meals shared with Hopi, Zuni, and Diné people, and in the crowds at ceremonial dances. The family’s roots in the Southwest run deep: grandparents who settled in New Mexico before statehood, and a father, John W. Kennedy, born in 1912, the year New Mexico joined the Union, who traded until he was 100.
More than 34 years in the Chicago area never pulled Judith’s heart from the Southwest. The art kept it close, gathered piece by piece from the age of ten. Today the collection holds the work of artists known as friends, alongside artists the family knew in earlier generations. Its depth comes from three generations of trading, and from trust built across a counter and kept for a lifetime.
An experienced public speaker, Judith brings these stories to audiences of more than 100 and to intimate groups of 25, with the warmth of someone who lived them.
The Books
The quotations you’ve read along the way come from books Judith has written about the art, the artists, and her family and the families who shaped her life.
Not currently available for purchase. To share a quotation, please reach out to Judith.
Every piece has a story.
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