CHACO CHANGED Judy Tuwaletstiwa’s life, both personally and as an artist. For one, it’s where she met her husband, Phillip Tuwaletstiwa (Hopi). Her time in the canyon also launched a creative journey that has carried her for decades, beginning with a series of 10 paintings that explore ideas and images from Chaco. The artworks fill her recently published book, Chaco Series (University of Oklahoma Press, 2025), which includes an essay by Phillip. Like the canyon, the book invites stillness and contemplation of its mystifying string of images and symbols.

In 1984, I camped by myself for a month in the Southwest. That’s when I went to Chaco for the first time. 

My kids were mainly grown, and I was trying to figure out who I was again. I spent a month camping in national parks and canyons and walking all day. It was amazing. I did find myself again. 

As I pulled into Chaco, I thought to myself, Oh my God, time is so different here. 

It’s the way Chaco holds the light. Every minute in Chaco, the way the light reflects off the rocks, it’s like that liminal space between dream and awake.

There’s a good reason why so much was done there by the ancients. 

I built 10 canvases. I numbered them one to 10. Then on day one, I painted on canvas one, on day two, canvas two, until I had all 10 of them going. 

I thought, If I have 10 canvases all going at once, if I get stuck on one, I can leave it alone and go to another one. Something will have resolved itself there.

They formed a diurnal cycle. I hadn’t planned it. It starts in the morning, goes through the day into the night, and comes back to morning again.

We have so many experiences that are so profound, and a place like Chaco can bring them all together, so that you end up seeing beyond what you have any idea you can see. 

I look at this series and I think, How did I do that?

I’m realizing that’s what the Chaco Series is—it’s weaving the world. We weave the world through our stories.  

Read more: Take to these trails for petroglyph panels, building tours, and a greater appreciation of Chaco culture.