SWAIA’s 102nd Santa Fe Indian Market is a Tour De Force

SANTA FE, N.M., Aug. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is pleased to announce a hugely successful 102^nd Santa Fe Indian Market—held over the weekend of August 17 and August 18, 2024. Over the two-day market, almost 1,000 SWAIA juried artists sold their artwork to collectors from across the globe during the world’s oldest and most prestigious Native North American fine art market. By Sunday afternoon, over a hundred SWAIA artists’ booths had sold out.

SWAIA celebrated the second annual Get Indigenous Film Festival, (GIFF), in partnership with the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, (MIAC). This year’s film festival lineup included the lauded documentary, Sugarcane—a 2024 documentary film, directed by Julian Brave Noisecat (Canim Lake Band Tsq’escen) and Emily Kassie. The documentary follows the evidence of unmarked graves discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. Borders, directed by Kenneth Shirley and Adam Conte was also screened.

SWAIA formally changed the name of the “Native American Clothing Contest” to the “Native American Regalia Showcase.” The showcase name change received the support of Clothing Contest founder and curator, Jeri Ah-be-hill’s daughters, Terri Greeves and Keri Atumbi, who spoke at the Plaza stage on Sunday morning. Adult Native American Regalia Showcase (NARS) participants received a $100 honorarium for participation, and children received $50. NARS’s new identity is a public reminder that Indian Country is not a monolith, but instead a collection of rich entities that deserve to be uniquely celebrated.

Southwest Planning is in the process of producing economic and fiscal (tax) impact data for the 2024 event. The firm’s data collection includes a variety of marketing and event-related information: where people are from, how they heard about the event, what parts of the event they attended, satisfaction— and other relevant demographics.

SWAIA is now preparing for the annual Winter Market, which will take place at the Santa Fe Convention Center on November 30 and December 1. Details will be made public in the next month at swaia.org. SWAIA is constantly fundraising to continue the organization’s mission, “bringing Native arts to the world by inspiring artistic excellence, fostering education, and creating meaningful partnerships.” Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of any amount to SWAIA at https://swaia.org/donate/

About SWAIA 
The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is a non-profit organization supporting Native North American art and culture. SWAIA creates economic and cultural opportunities for Native North American artists by producing and promoting the Santa Fe Indian Market— the largest and most prestigious Native art event in the world. Since 1922, SWAIA has cultivated excellence and innovation across traditional and non-traditional art forms— developing programs and events that support, promote, and honor Native North American artists year-round. 

SOURCE Southwestern Association for Indian Arts