Kalle Benallie
ICT
SANTA FE, New Mexico — Indigenous artists at the 2023 Santa Fe Indian Market gathered Wednesday for a press and artist reception to share what they expect from the 101st market.
The event precedes the three-day event in August where numerous Indigenous artists and the public celebrate Indigenous art, with other events outside the market also occurring. ICT listed them here.
Ephraim Anderson, Navajo, also known as Zefren-M, has been in the market four times and is expecting competition. He is interested to see the state of the traditional category due to the emergence of contemporary art. He said this year’s market may strike up conversations about what Native art is and where it’s going.
“I’m just looking for that competition. Will it be jewelry, will it be a weaving that will win best of show this year or is it going to be the first year an outfit that is sewn wins?” Anderson said.
His work is in textiles, jewelry, two-dimensional and three-dimensional art.
He said this year they are going to see which artists will be invested in and who the buyers think will make a profit. He said it’s important for an artist to maintain integrity rather than focus on selling. He said for three years he didn’t sell anything and then he got the 2019 Heard Museum best of show and started selling more.
“The competition creates good artists but it also creates better businessmen,” he said.
Antoinette Thompson, Navajo, also known as A Thompson Art, said she was talking to another artist who will consider the market a success if they sell their biggest piece so they can receive a profit back.
“You have to think about the booths, the supplies, the travel, the hotel, the lodging, the food, whatever, bills. It’s a lot. It’s expensive to be an artist, and it’s not a sustainable income,” she said.
Thompson’s art is abstract expressionism. This is her fourth time in the market.
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Natalie Miller, Chickasaw, said it was a goal for her to be part of the market and was surprised when she was accepted.
“It’s so world renowned. I mean it’s obviously Native American which is really special, just to share that with other people and to be part of it is special, and I love Santa Fe,” she said. “It’s nice to see a collective of everyone together, artists alone and then Native artists.”
Miller submitted three pieces for the best of show ceremony and is excited to be part of the market. She describes her work as more contemporary and does acrylic on canvas paintings.
Shaax Saani, Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes, traveled from Alaska and thinks that the market this year will be a good one, mostly because the weather is better than in 2022. She said it rained on the first day and was cold.
Saani is a skin sewist, works on jewelry and textiles.
“I bring just what I can bring. Here it is. You like it, you like it,” she said.
She doesn’t come to the market every year but first began attending in 2013. At first she thought it was more a Southwest market and didn’t see much representation from Alaska.
Artist Charlene Holy Bear, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota, also said the Great Plains region didn’t have a lot of representation until recently. As well as the market has become more contemporary like including Native fashion and more events happening around the market.
She first started attending in 2002 and does beadwork and quillwork.
“The energy seems to be pretty good. How they marketed everybody and really encouraged — it’s a different kind of ambiance,” Holy Bear said. “You won’t be able to see everything that you want to. It’s a lot to see. Gallery openings, other markets happening, you have to be very strategic with what you want to see and experience.”
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