NATIVE TREASURES: INDIAN ARTS FESTIVAL

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Santa Fe, New MexicoCollectors, dealers and fans of Native American art have blocked their calendars for Memorial Day Weekend's fifth annual Native Treasures: Indian Arts Festival. Top Native American artists will display and sell their work at the new Santa Fe Community Convention Center in downtown Santa Fe.

In past years, Native Treasures has taken place on Museum Hill.  This year the show will be in a new location -- the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, just a  block from the plaza.  

More than 170 artists from 40 tribes and pueblos will showcase and sell their pottery, jewelry, glass, painting, sculpture, carvings, textiles and other art on Saturday, May 23 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 24, 2009, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 on Saturday and free on Sunday.  The Early Bird Market is on Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. Admission is $15 and allows collectors to preview and buy artwork in advance of the general public. Native Treasures: Indian Arts Festival benefits the programs and exhibitions of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.   

"Because this is an invitational show, we are able to invite the ‘best of the best’ artists, from established masters to the brightest emerging stars, all of whom are producing museum-quality work,” says Museum of Indian Arts & Culture director Dr. Shelby Tisdale.  “Many of their pieces are in our permanent collection so we really enjoy being able to offer this quality of art for sale." 

Some of the artists participating in the 2009 Native Treasures show are jewelers Vernon Haskie, Richard Chavez, Fritz Casuse and Keri Ataumbi; potters Robert Tenorio, Janice Ortiz, Erik Fender and Samuel Manymules; sculptors Upton Ethelbah and Adrian Wall; painters Marla Allison, Raymond Nordwall and Peterson Yazzie; carvers Robert Albert and Delbridge Honanie; and textile artists Mona Laughing and Dorothy Grant. Many of these artists were recently honored with major awards at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Heard Market in Phoenix. 
 

“We try to ensure that there is a different group of artists each year, so that more artists get the chance to participate and collectors have the fun of finding someone new,” Tisdale adds. More than 80 of the artists are new to the show this year.  

Native Treasures: Indian Arts Festival is an intimate, fun weekend where buyers can meet the artists and can ask questions in a relaxed atmosphere. Purchasing art at Native Treasures—with prices ranging from $25 to $10,000 —is a way for the public to support not only the artists but also the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.

In its first four years, Native Treasures has raised more than $200,000 providing the majority of the exhibition and education budget for the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, including funds for the current exhibitions
Native American Picture Books of Change and Comic Art Indigène and Native Couture.Artists who participate in Native Treasures generously donate a portion of their sales to the museum.  

For more information about all Native Treasures events and for a full artist listing, visit www.nativetreasuressantafe.org         

Contact:
Jennifer Marshall
505-231-1776
jennifer@jmarshallplan.com
www.jmarshallplan.com