Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz - CCS Bard

Exhibition Overview

Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz marks the first survey of acclaimed Navajo/Diné weaver and mathematics educator Marilou Schultz. The exhibition positions Schultz as an innovator whose work across culture and industry has influenced the practices of art, Navajo weaving, and computer architecture over a 65-year career.

Exhibition Dates & Location

• June 27 – November 29, 2026
• Hessel Museum of Art

About the Artist

Marilou Schultz is an artist and educator whose practice is rooted in honoring ancestral traditions, embracing innovation, and nurturing the next generation. Schultz began weaving at age seven as part of a family tradition spanning four generations. By the 1980s, she was experimenting with new techniques, designs, and dyes while pursuing a career as a math teacher. In 1994, she was commissioned by Intel Corporation to create a woven replica of its Pentium chip.

Featured Works & Themes

The exhibition traces Schultz's full artistic arc, from traditional Navajo weaving to her innovative chip-inspired weavings including Replica of a Chip (1994), Popular Chip (2025), and Integrated Circuit Chip & AI Diné Weaving (2024). Works also feature pieces by her mother, Martha Schultz, grandmother Mary Jasbah Clay, and niece Melissa Cody, situating intergenerational mentorship and traditional styles such as doubletwill and Two Grey Hills.

Technical Innovation

Throughout her practice, Schultz demonstrates technical innovation including her use of the wedge weave for asymmetric and three-dimensional designs, incorporation of metallic thread to represent aluminum and copper found in microchips, and novel use of natural and chemical dyes.

Historical Context

The exhibition includes archival materials related to Fairchild Industries' manufacturing plant in Shiprock on Navajo Nation. In the 1960s and 1970s, Fairchild Semiconductors operated a plant employing primarily Navajo women. The plant closed in 1975 following reports of poor working conditions. Schultz's chip-inspired weavings give visibility to this history and the technical achievements of Indigenous communities.

Curation & Research

The exhibition is curated by Candice Hopkins (citizen of Carcross/Tagish First Nation, CCS Bard '03), Executive Director and Chief Curator of Forge Project and Fellow in Indigenous Art History and Curatorial Studies at CCS Bard. Exhibition research and coordination by Mary Rozell with curatorial assistance by Amelia Russo.

Exhibition Catalogue

Replica of a Chip: The Weaving Technology of Marilou Schultz will be accompanied by an illustrated catalogue co-published by CCS Bard, Forge Project, and Dancing Foxes Press. The publication will feature essays by Hopkins and guest authors, as well as documentation of an oral history with Marilou Schultz.