Milestones

It’s a landmark month here at International Art Publishing. Our sister publication, Western Art Collector, is celebrating its 200th issue, and then here we are marking Issue 50 with Native American Art magazine. These are just arbitrary numbers that don’t mean all that much, but they are fun to celebrate, especially as we look back on those 50 issues to see how far we’ve come. Hint: It’s a long way.

When we started the magazine in late 2015, we did have a lot of experience in the world of Native American art mostly because we had been exposed to many of the major events, artists and exhibitions through Western Art Collector, which is where a lot of this coverage went before it had its own magazine. Once we had a dedicated title, though, a whole new world opened up. I’ll never forget one of the first years I went to Santa Fe Indian Market. We had a tiny media booth in the gravel next to the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Traffic was light and very little happened that far away from the action. Just a few years later, we were in the center of the Santa Fe Plaza in a massive booth filled with magazines and decorations, and thousands of people stopped by to get magazines, ask questions about artists and sign up for subscriptions. It was like night and day!

And we’re still pushing ourselves to do more. Each new issue is an opportunity to explore so much within the world of Native American art. We’re always looking for new artists, hot trends, fresh galleries and new shows. We want to be the first place you see your next favorite artist. And all your current favorite artists as well.

We couldn’t have made it to 50 issues without great readers, nor could we have done so without great contributors, including writers like Jessa Rae Growing Thunder, Amber-dawn Bear Robe, Jessica Metcalf, Kristin Gentry and many others. Our goal is to take you deep into the art world and lead our readers on such wonderful journeys.

Another milestone this month is the first-ever SWAIA Native Fashion Week, which has a large presence in our fashion section. We’re excited for SWAIA and all it’s doing in the Southwest to elevate new artistic voices. We hope that you can make a trip to Santa Fe in early May to celebrate with SWAIA and Native American Art.