HITTING A MARKET HIGH
Big returns from the IAIA Museum Club’s Student and Recent Graduate Art Market
IAIA student and recent graduate art market
In 1991 the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) acquired the old Federal Building in downtown Santa Fe. (Coincidentally, it was built in 1922, the year of the first Santa Fe Indian Market.) Soon, the historic Pueblo Revival-style building reopened as the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum (now IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts [MoCNA]). The building’s prime location — just one block east of the Plaza, situated between Sena Plaza and La Fonda and facing the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi— has lent itself well to the economic opportunities of busy Santa Fe summers. The generous Cathedral Place sidewalks and oversized architectural features, including a wide covered front portal and two enclosed courtyards, have enhanced the museum’s public face. Taking full advantage of the optimal location, the annual IAIA Student and Recent Graduate Art Market occurs every August during Indian Market weekend, when the Plaza and its surrounding streets are transformed into the world’s largest gathering of Native artists and those seeking Native art. The student market booths are well situated to receive many of the more than 120,000 visitors expected at the 98th Santa Fe Indian Market. The IAIA Art Market is organized and managed by student members of the IAIA Museum Club. In 2012 museum studies major Azizah Muhammad revived the club, which had been inactive for a number of years. The club’s current officers are president Stephanie Hall (Seminole Nation), vice president Delaney Keshena (Menominee Tribe of Wisconsin), treasurer Lorenza Marcais (Chicanx/Mescalero Apache descent) and secretary Dawna Walters (Diné). “The club is small,” says Tatiana Lomahaftewa-Singer (Hopi/Choctaw), MoCNA curator of collections and staff sponsor of the club since 2014. “Current membership stands at about 10 and is mostly made up of museum studies majors but also includes students of studio arts, performing arts and art history.” The club hosts the student market as a fundraiser. The museum charges a small fee for each booth, while artists keep 100% of their sales. Booth fee proceeds support Museum Club activities, including visits to local and out-of-town museums and galleries, attending professional conferences, curating exhibitions and organizing the market itself. In 2015 the Museum Club and MoCNA formalized their partnership in producing the market, which offers booth space to about 20 to 40 artists. Application to the IAIA Art Market is open to all full-time enrolled IAIA students and recent graduates of any discipline. The market is so popular that the selection process is executed through a lottery, with 20 booths assigned by public drawing. Past participants include Shyanne Brant (Mohawk), Chad Browneagle (ShoshoneBannock/Spokane), Alexis Estes (Lakota), Jacob Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), Kelly Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), Duane Qouchytewa (Hopi), Tammy Rahr (Cayuga), Melissa Shaginoff (Athabascan/Paiute) and Dakota Yazzie (Diné). The market is an important opportunity for students and alumni to “showcase their talent and interact with the public,” says MoCNA director Patsy Phillips (Cherokee Nation). “And their lively presence attracts visitors to the museum. Guests love meeting the artists and seeing the new work that’s created each year. “IAIA and MoCNA have always been a training ground for the next generation of museologists and artists,” continues Phillips. “Throughout the year, students assist museum staff in collections and programming, and with the installation of new exhibitions.”
MUSEUM CLUB MEMBER HIGHLIGHT
One of the artists sharing new work at this year’s IAIA Art Market is ceramicist, painter, printmaker and sculptor Frank Andrews (Colville Nez Perce/Diné), who graduated from IAIA in 2017 with a BFA in studio arts. Andrews lives in Nespelem, Washington, and works at the Colville Tribal Museum in Coulee Dam. This marks the fourth consecutive year he has made the trip from the Evergreen State to the Land of Enchantment to participate in this market. I recently caught up with Andrews as he added final notes to a speech about the impact of the Coulee Dam on local Native culture, prepared for a group of preschoolers visiting the museum. The young listeners were due to arrive at the museum any moment. “It’s important to teach them young,” he said of his anticipated audience. Andrews, who “was asked to join the Museum Club and began participating in events” during his first year at IAIA, sees the art market as a “stepping stone” to Indian Market. “New artists want in!” he says. At the time of our conversation, he was number 22 on SWAIA’s waiting list.
As a child, Andrews was “completely obsessed with looking at the giant T.C. Cannon posters” his mother hung on the walls of their home and was “impressed by his style and use of color.” Other early influences came from 1980s comic books, Ninja Turtles, Transformers and movie monsters. After that, the strong popcultural, graphic styles of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Roy Lichtenstein inspired Andrews to “mix in my own cultural elements.” Andrews paints gestural, expressive portraits. His strongest works include a portrait of his great-grandparents “derived from an old sepia-tone photo” and a powerful acrylic rendering of Chief Joseph. The artist does not approach such revered subject matter without great reflection. “I’ve struggled with trying to get past the feeling that I’m exploiting my Native culture to convey my Native culture,” he says of this balancing act. In addition to his colorful canvases, Andrews collaborated with his friend Terry Fisher (Coushatta) to produce a line of screen-printed T-shirts. Andrews also makes stickers and magnets. With so much to choose from at a wide range of price points, the only challenge in adding to — or beginning — your collection of his art will be narrowing down your selections. Along with Andrews, artists selected to exhibit at the 2019 IAIA Student and Recent Graduate Art Market include Amanda Beardsley (Laguna/Hopi/Choctaw), Justus Benally (San Carlos Apache), Chad Browneagle (Spokane/ShoshoneBannock), Carly Feddersen (Colville), Jacob Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), Kelly Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), Russell Frye (Tesuque Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), Jaida Grey Eagle (Oglala Lakota), Elysse Honyouti (Hopi), Nicole Lawe (Karuk), Boderra Joe (Diné), Brian Jai Keith (Cheyenne/ Tewa/Hopi), Kurt Lomawaima (Hopi), Lorenza Marcais, David Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), Golga Oscar (Yup’ik), Mikayla Patton (Oglala Lakota), Emily Peck, Faithlyn Seawright (Chickasaw/Choctaw), Neebinnaukzhik Southall (Rama Chippewa), Tina Sparks, Amalia Sparks-Schuler, and Anangookwe Wolf (Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe). Look for the artists under the museum’s portal facing Cathedral Place. This event is free and open to the public.