INDIAN MARKET EVENTS AT BUFFALO THUNDER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 10, 2009                                                                                                                    

INDIAN MARKET EVENTS AT BUFFALO THUNDER

Santa Fe, N.M.- The Santa Fe Indian Market Gallery at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino celebrates the 2009 Indian Market with a reception for its current exhibit, Modern Heritage, Thursday, Aug. 20, 5-8 p.m. Six-time world champion hoop dancer Nakotah LaRance will perform at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. This will be LaRance's last public performance before joining a renowned performance group for a two-year world tour.

The 19-year-old LaRance has an impressive career. He has appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and received the highest score in the history of Pax Network's "America's Most Talented Kids." In 2006 he won the First Americans in the Arts "Best New Actor Award" for his role as Voices That Carry in episode five of "Into the West." Movie credits include "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" and "Expiration Date."

Many of the artists in Modern Heritage will be in attendance at the reception.  The show includes traditional works such as Monte Claw's (Diné) dance fans, beadwork by his wife, Kareen Claw (San Carlos Apache); and tufa-cast silver jewelry by husband and wife team Steve LaRance (Hopi) and Marian Denipah (Diné). Tina Santiago (Coushatta) weaves pine-needle baskets and depicts Native subject matter using batik and classical painting.  The flowing stone sculpture of Rollie Grandbois (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) is sensual and elegant.

A free shuttle will run between Buffalo Thunder and the Poeh Museum's reception, also from 5-8 p.m. The Poeh Museum is featuring two artists, Upton Ethelbah (Santa Clara Pueblo/Mescalero Apache), known for his dynamic sculpture, and Robert Montoya (Ohkay Owingeh and Sandia Pueblos), whose paintings depict scenes from his puebloan culture. Refreshments will be available and there will be traditional dancing on site.

Roxanne Swentzell's Tower Gallery, at the Poeh Museum, will also be open that evening, with Swentzell on site. In addition to highlighting her new works, Swentzell's monumental piece, "Community," commissioned for the Santa Fe Community Convention Center, will be on display.

Modern Heritage at The Santa Fe Indian Market Gallery at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino

Special reception during Indian Market, Thursday, August 20, 5-8 p.m. for Modern Heritage.  Modern Heritage runs through October 15, 2009.  The Santa Fe Indian Market Gallery at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino is the first year-round venue for Indian Market artists. Each of the gallery's four yearly exhibits features a variety of the 1,200 juried market artists working in different media.

Modern Heritage highlights Native American artists who are keeping traditional art forms vibrant or expressing their heritage through nontraditional media. Traditional work includes parfleche from the Plains traditions of Debra Box (Southern Ute), Monte Claw's (Diné) dance fans and his wife Kareen's (San Carlos Apache) beadwork.  There are sculptural glass pieces by Marcus Amerman (Choctaw), elegant stone sculpture by Rollie Grandbois (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) and figurative bronze sculpture by Estella Loretto (Jemez Pueblo) and Ryan Benally (Diné). Jewelry ranges from classic designs by Marian Denipah (Diné), Steve LaRance (Hopi) and Albert Lee (Diné) to the innovative work of Glenda Loretto (Jemez Pueblo). There are vibrant batik scenes from Tina Santiago (Coushatta), impressionistic paintings by Michelle Tsosie Sisneros (Santa Clara Pueblo) and the bold acrylics of Nocona Burgess (Comanche).

"The average American thinks that Native cultures died way back when," says Santa Fe Indian Market Gallery Manager Celia Calloway Williams. "The material culture often opens a window into the fact that this is a living, growing, thriving culture. They are living now; they are using contemporary tools. You don't use a pump drill anymore to make your beads."

Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino's title sponsorship of Santa Fe Indian Market provides much needed support and will help pay for the 2009 Indian Market. This auspicious sponsorship also represents a mutually beneficial partnership that recognizes the centrality of the Santa Fe Indian Market to the Native fine arts movement.

WHAT: Modern Heritage, a show of Indian Market Artists and six-time world champion hoop dancer Nakotah LaRance
WHERE: Santa Fe Indian Market Gallery at Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, 30 Buffalo Thunder Trail, Santa Fe, NM
WHEN: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 5-8 p.m. 
Free shuttle running between Buffalo Thunder and Poeh Museum's opening, also 5-8 p.m.
INFO: (505) 819-2245

http://www.buffalothunderresort.com/