DISCOVERED TREASURES
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Native Treasures Art Market is now in its 14th year.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Native Treasures Art Market is now in its 14th year.
During Memorial Day Weekend, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Native Treasures Art Market returns to the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. During the last 13 years, the event has brought in more than $4 million for artists, and nearly a million to fund exhibits and educational programs at the museum.
Event co-chair Ardith Eicher sees the show as a win on multiple fronts. Settled firmly in between the Heard Guild’s March event and SWAIA’S August Indian Market, it provides an additional opportunity for artists to sell, as well as serving as a fundraiser for the museum. “Because its done on a smaller scale, it’s also a win for the attendees,” Eicher adds. “It’s intimate and relaxed, and visitors get a chance to talk to artists and learn how and why they make their art.”
Jeweler Maria Samora will be honored at the event as the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s 2018 Living
Treasure. The museum will exhibit her work in a show titled Maria Samora: A Master of Elegance, opening April 6.
“Her work has evolved quite a bit, and she brings out a new collection each year,” Eicher says, the exhibition will contain about 20 pieces, a range from her early work to today, along with images of her at work by her photographer-husband Kevin Rebholtz.
“It’s really an honor to be accepted by all the other artists who, over the years, have become a community and a family,” Samora says of the Native Treasures Art Market. “We’re all just kind of pushing each other, encouraging each other, and it’s empowering to see that.”
Among the other 200 artists participating in the event are jewelers Keri Ataumbi and Matagi Sorensen; painters Nocona Burgess and Dan Namingha; potter Jody Naranjo; and basket weaver Sally Black. The show is invitational, and Eicher explains, “Every year we try to bring in 25 to 30 percent of people that are new to the show in order to increase opportunity...we have emerging artists up to established masters, and
traditional to contemporary works.”
Music, entertainment and artist demonstrations will take place throughout the weekend, and new to the event this year is a fashion show, which will take place on Saturday, and a gathering of food trucks on Sunday. Also for the first time this year, both Saturday and Sunday will have free admission.