Sponsored by: AIA-Boston Society, Harvard University Committee on the Arts
Join us for a free, fun night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. Come with a date, come with friends, or make new friends while strolling through the galleries.
Explore the art of craft beer making from 6:00 to 7:00 pm with the founders of Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the executive director of the Beer Culture Center, a Chicago nonprofit dedicated to sharing global stories of beer (details below).
Participate in beer-themed activities.
Purchase local beers curated for the event at the cash bar (valid government ID required to consume alcoholic beverages).
Enter a free raffle to win museum gifts and membership.
Free and open to the public. Let us know you are coming! RSVPs are encouraged, but walk-in visitors are always welcome. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.
Conversation, 6:00–7:00 pm, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Shyla Sheppard, Founder, President & CEO, Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
Missy Begay, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Bow & Arrow Brewing Co.
Liz Garibay, Executive Director, Beer Culture Center
In 2016, Shyla Sheppard and Missy Begay officially opened the doors to the first ever Native women-owned brewery in the United States. Their beers are attention-demanding explorations of Indigenous and local Southwestern ingredients. Pilsners, hazy IPAs, sours, and farmhouse ales feature local blue corn, sumac, and prickly pear, and hand-foraged neomexicanus hops, the only hop indigenous to North America. They’ve translated their love of the land and their rich agricultural histories to incorporate ingredients that are foraged, sourced from Tribal agricultural enterprises, or grown on their rural property. They are creating initiatives they believe will make their industry more enduring. While they initially turned heads when they chose to open a brewery, they’ve since demonstrated the power of their unique voice and perspective and have made their mark on the industry with recent recognition, including being a 2024 James Beard Foundation Semifinalist.
That same year, the world’s first nonprofit dedicated to sharing stories of how beer has shaped humanity, was launched. A museum kid since the age 15, Liz Garibay has spent most of her life and career digging in archives and working in various academic institutions and cultural centers around the world (including the Peabody Museum at Harvard). Inspired by the legacies of these historic establishments, her own Mexican-American Midwestern heritage, and her vast work in examining untold tales of beer history, Garibay created the Beer Culture Center. The organization’s innovative approach to collaborations, spirited storytelling, and creative forward-thinking is exhibited in its expansive body of programming and has caused a stir in both the museum world and the beer industry.
We invite you to gather with us for a special evening and conversation that digs into the way these women of color are reclaiming Indigenous brewing histories and changing the beer industry.
Through Bow & Arrow Brewing, Shyla and Missy are perfect examples of the Beer Culture Center’s mission that beer is more than just a beverage. It is a dynamic cultural force with the ability to bring people together and the power to make change.