Choctaw artist Karen Clarkson, known for honoring powerful Indigenous women in her paintings, was one of a handful of top artists selected to show their work inside the sprawling Heard Museum Shop. (Photo/Tamara Ikenberg for Native News)
With thousands of collectors and artists flooding the grounds of the Heard Museum, it was a wildly different animal than 2021’s all-online iteration.
Instead of selling in cyberspace, the artists could stand proudly with their work and interact with collectors and colleagues the way it should be.
But is the art market world really back to its pre-pandemic glory?
It depends on who you ask.
“The numbers are really great here,” said Penobscot weaver Theresa Secord. “There have been a lot of collectors showing uo and supporting the artists. It’s going to be a great show.”
Yakama and Comanche artist Carmen Selam was still a bit apprehensive about the situation.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s back to normal, but I feel like we’re definitely adapting to the new times,” she said.
Despite the issues presented by the ongoing pandemic, the market was a marvelous swirl of socializing, selling and celebrating.
Native News Online was on hand to capture some snapshots of the acclaimed artists and their stunning work.
Here is a little look at the action and art at one of Indian Country’s premiere events.
Young Yakama artist Helen Sekaquaptawa, 13, designs to the beat of her own drum, and her deerskin Hello Kitty percussion piece proves it.
Internationally known Luiseno and Shoshone Bannock artist and designer Jamie Okuma with her frighteningly fantastic beaded portrait of Pinhead from the movie Hellraiser.
Santo Domingo Pueblo artist Jolene Bird’s musician brother said Bird was crazy for attempting to create an inlay guitar with abalone and sterling silver, but she made it anyway, and it’s fully playable, she said.
Choctaw artist Karen Clarkson, known for honoring powerful Indigenous women in her paintings, was one of a handful of top artists selected to show their work inside the sprawling Heard Museum Shop.
Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa photographer Leah Kolakowski with her portrait of Kiowa and Comanche friend and fellow artist Peshawn Bread. Kolakowski’s career has gotten a boost from her Native Arts and Culture Foundation apprenticeship with Chemehuevi photographer Cara Romero, who was also at the market. “She helped elevate me and get me started,” Kolakowski said of Romero.
Penobscot weaver Theresa Secord paid textile tribute to the materials that make up her basket masterpieces by sporting a vest embellished with beaded ash leaves made by Miami Tribe of Oklahoma artist Katrina Mitten.
Hopi, Navajo and Shawnee Kachina doll carver Randy Brokeshoulder details a small piece during the 64th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market during the weekend of Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, 2022, at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ.
Superstar Chemehuevi photographer Cara Romero sits next to her funky, futuristic award-winning image “Three Sisters.” ”The idea is that Indigenous women will hold a sacred role in the future tor the healing of the planet and the earth,” Romero said. “The wires are plugged into their minds, their hearts and their life giving energies in order to save the planet.”
Akwesasne Mohawk artist Carrie Hill of Chill Baskets presents a sweetgrass and ash basket that looks like it’s illuminated from the inside, and can also be used as a vase. Anyone interested in the finer points of Mohawk basketry can meet Hill and learn from her via her Airbnb Experience called Explore Mohawk Basketry with a Master.
Hopi carver Donald Lomawunu Sockyma with an array of his striking and colorful Katsina dolls.
A batch of real elk ivories adorn this intricately beaded award-winning cradleboard by Crow artist Elias Jade Not Afraid.
This cool, casual T shirt by Yakama and Comanche graphic artist Carmen Selam celebrates the beauty, style and strength of Indigenous women.
The Heard was a special sister act for Yakama siblings Carmen Selam and Helen Sekaquaptawa, who shared a display table. It was the first time at the Heard for Helen,13.
Tamara Ikenberg is a contributing writer to Native News Online. She covers tribes throughout the southwest as well as Native arts, culture and entertainment. She can be reached at tamara@nativenewsonline.net.
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