Santa Fe’s week of Native American art draws thousands

A series of premiereNative American art and antiquities markets packed into a single week in Santa Fe are expected to attract tens of thousands of people to the New Mexico capital.

The markets range from the Antique American Indian Art Show — which features pre-1950s Native American art — to the Santa Fe Indian Market, where 1,000 artists show their work on the city’s historic plaza and surrounding streets for what organizers say is the world’s largest juried show of indigenous artwork.

Organizers estimate Santa Fe Indian Market alone has attracted about 150,000 people and roughly $80 million to the city in recent years.

Here’s a look at four of the markets happening in Santa Fe:

The market event officially opened last Saturday morning, with artists setting up at sunrise for local and international collectors who have been known to congregate downtown during the early morning hours to make high-end purchases from some of the market’s best-known artists.

About 1,000 artists region of the United Canada show and sell

SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET:

from every States and their work during the two-day event. They specialize in creating traditional and contemporary beaded pieces, baskets, paintings, pottery, sculpture and other works. Most are full-time professionals who have won awards.

This year marks Santa Fe Indian Market’s 95th year. In the two days leading up to the market, artists entered their best pieces for jurying, and the Southwestern Association for American Indian Arts, the nonprofit that produces the market, holds a Friday night preview party of award winners that’s open to the public.

Online: ANTIQUE SHOW:

Collectors and dealers of pre1950sNative American art descended on a venue at Santa Fe’s rail yard starting last Wednesday for the nation’s largest and longest-running tribal artifacts show. The event runs through last Friday, with doors open between 11amand 5 pmatElMuseo Cultural de Santa Fe.

Scores of exhibitors set up in the museum, showing Navajo rugs, Plains Indian beadwork and kachinas. Some pieces can date back more than a century.

Online: AMERICAN INDIAN ART

INDIGENOUS FINE ART MARKET: This three-day market, also set at the Santa Fe Railyard near the city’s downtown, started lastThursday, featuring 300 artists. Founded three years ago, it’s uncertain whether what sprung up as an alternative to Santa Fe IndianMarket will remain a mainstay for the city’sAugustart scene, butso far it has attracted Native American artisans whose works range from the streetart ofDouglasMiles, anApache painter from San Carlos, Arizona, to Hopi wood carvings.

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ZUNI SHOW: Zuni Pueblo, a tiny village in westernNewMexico, is home to some of the best indigenous jewelers and carvers in the country, with the community especially known for its fine, intricate inlay jewelry and tiny carvings. The carvings, referred to as Zuni fetishes, often take the shapes of animals that bear cultural significance for the tribe.

This year, a nonprofit gallery that benefits the artists of the pueblo will hold the two-day Zuni Show for the first time to complement the other shows underway in Santa Fe. It started last Saturday at the Scottish Rite Temple in downtown Santa Fe.

Organizers say more than 100 Zuni carvers, potters and jewelers will sell at the event. Robin Dunlap, president of the Keshi Foundation, says the show offers collectors a chance to connect with more Zuni artists in person and buy directly from them.

The Southwestern Association for American Indian Arts, www.swaia.org www.antiqueindianartshow.com www.indigefam.org

Online:

www.keshi.com