Market Report
We ask leading dealers of historic and contemporary Native American art what their thoughts are on the market and where it might be headed.
Traffic has been really good, and there have been
a lot of people coming to Santa Fe. We’re getting a lot of tourists that are still coming to town. The main people who are very interested are a younger crowd.
The young people just starting out are very interested in the pottery and how it’s made, and there’s definitely been a specific interest in Santa Clara pottery.
The Santa Clara style is more of a traditional, polished black. There are also deeper, carved pieces. We have some pieces in the store from the book Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni by Allan Hayes and John Blom. The cover is our sign, and that definitely helps bring people in. It’s great for people to see the pieces that are in the book in person, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’re getting a younger crowd.
We sell quite a bit of work by Jason Ebelacker, who not a lot of people have heard of. He doesn’t have one of the common names from the Pueblos, but he’s a greatgrandson of Margaret Tafoya. I believe when people see his work, the quality is clear. His polish is just outstanding, you can see your reflection.
We’re known for carrying up-and-coming artists, and we’re really interested in having artists in the gallery that people need to know about. We have Clarissa Tafoya, who does amazing, beautiful work, and when people see it, they fall in love. We also have a couple artists who are in their 20s, who don’t necessarily produce a lot because they are still in school. Being able to talk about the artists and their stories really helps people to understand it. It really amazes people. We also sell a lot of Nia Macknight photography. None of it is posed; it’s all from the Standing Rock, and that sells really well. It’s nice having a little bit of everything!