Mid-August every year is usually when Matika and Adrienne head out to New Mexico to get #SantaFancy, visit artist friends, and partake in all of the joy of Santa Fe Indian Market--the largest Native art market in the US. Like everything, Art Market was canceled in person this year, leaving us worried about and missing our artsy relatives. So we decided to launch a mini-series on Native art and artists!
The goal of this series of episodes is two fold. In a world of cultural appropriation and “Native inspired” junk showing up on Instagram ads and in stores, we wanted you to get to know actual Indigenous artists. Folks who have been in the game for a long time, navigating the complicated and careful lines of culture, tradition, innovation, and art. We want you to hear their voices and their stories, know their work and their passion, and learn why its so important to support Native artists directly.
Secondly, the pandemic has hit us all in a lot of different and difficult ways. But when the Native art world is so dependent on in person relationships, this time has meant that things have had to dramatically shift and change in a very short period of time. Many of our artist friends rely on art markets and shows for the majority of their income each year, and all of those have been cancelled.
We wanted to bring these two pieces together, and introduce you to some of our artist friends, as well as check in and hear how their work and lives are moving forward in this new and challenging time.
On this first episode, meet three awesome full time artists--Jewelers and metal smiths Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo and Apache) and Waddie Crazyhorse (Cochiti Pueblo), and painter J. Nicole Hatfield (Comanche).
Follow and support the artists!
Adrienne’s Catapult story on Kristen Dorsey: https://catapult.co/stories/kristen-dorsey-native-jewelry-designer-fighting-stereotypes-art-adrienne-keene
Santa Fe Indian Market/SWAIA virtual market: https://swaia.org/indian-market/2020-exhibitors/
We Are The Seed Market (Native run market, postponed for 2020):http://www.wearetheseeds.org/about-seeds.html
As always, thank you to Ciara Sana for her amazing episode art, and Teo
Follow us on Instagam @amrpodcast, or support our work on Patreon. Show notes are published on our website, amrpodcast.com. Matika's book Project 562: Changing the Way We See Native America is available now! T'igwicid and Wado for being on this journey with us.