Litchfield Park Gathering accepting applications from Native American fine artists and artisans through November 1st

Details

By City of Litchfield Park

August 30, 2024

Litchfield Park, Arizona, is a small, charming city just 30 minutes west of Phoenix.  It is home to the historic four-star Wigwam Resort and Golf Course.  It is also home to several award-winning annual festivals, including the Litchfield Park Gathering.  The Gathering, which is free and open to the public, is a celebration of indigenous arts and cultures.  This year’s festival will be held on January 11 and 12, 2025.  The festival is open daily from 10am until 5pm.  

Now in its 33rd year of production, longtime participants look forward to this festival each year to gather and reconnect with family members and friends that they don’t often see.  More than one hundred Native American artists participate annually in the Litchfield Park Gathering, which is an outdoor street festival held in the center of town.  Several longtime participants including Larry Ashkie, Bob Lansing, Daniel Ramirez, and Virgil J. Nez have pieces in museum and gallery collections. Even more are consistently juried into the nation’s most prestigious shows, including the Heard Museum Guild Indian Market and the Santa Fe Indian Market.  

The Litchfield Park Gathering will provide festival patrons with an incredible selection of Native American masterpieces, including beadwork, jewelry, fetishes, kachinas, paintings, pottery, sculptures, and clothing and textiles. Both traditional and contemporary styles of art will be included, helping attendees understand that indigenous creativity comes in many forms and should not be stereotyped. Live artist demonstrations will also serve as teaching tools. These demonstrations enable festival goers to appreciate and interact with the artists and artisans on a personal level. 

Dancing, storytelling, and musical performances will be held on the main stage, as well as in the Cultural Education Area, where audience members can ask questions of the performers.  World champion hoop dancers Tony Duncan and Moontee Sinquah will be among the performers, along with world renowned classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala. In the nearby Children's Area, children can create complimentary make and take arts and crafts, such as arrowhead necklaces, cornhusk dolls and mini clay pots. Violet Duncan will also hold daily hoop dancing workshops for children. Of course, Native American fare will also be available for purchase in the festival’s food court.

This is an exciting opportunity for artists to sell their work to established collectors as well as new patrons and art aficionados. Participating artists will showcase their unique talents and perspectives to the thousands of festival goers who descend upon Litchfield Park every January. All artists go through a jurying process before being accepted into the show.  This process includes verification of tribal affiliations.  All artwork and pieces sold at the festival are original creations handcrafted and exhibited by the artists.  Accepted artists at Litchfield Park Gathering also have an opportunity to enter a juried art competition.  This special onsite review process will be performed by an expert panel on Friday, January 10, the afternoon before the festival. Judging will take place at the Wigwam Resort, which is right across from the festival grounds.  Winners will be notified when they retrieve their pieces that evening. Winners will also be announced and showcased during the festival.  Winning pieces are frequently coveted by festival attendees who purchase them during the festivals each year.   

Artist applications will be accepted on zapplication.org through November 1st.  For additional information about the Litchfield Park Gathering, including the application process, please call the City of Litchfield Park’s Special Events Department at 623-935-9040 or email [email protected]. This festival is supported in part by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by tourism dollars received through the Arizona Office of Tourism.