Santa Fe Indian Market 2010: Part I

(The artists of Postcommodity in front of their installation piece, which was, arguably, the most photographed piece of art during the Santa Fe Indian Market 2010)

Here we go!

Well, first things first -
I recently found out that I was awarded a University of New Mexico postdoc fellowship - which meant that I could move back to the land of enchantment. I love NM, almost as much as I love North Dakota. And right now, I really love being able to claim North Dakota AND New Mexico as my home.

As part of my 'big move' back down to New Mexi, I left ND last Monday and did practically the entire 1300 mile drive before I decided that I was lazy and grabbed a hotel room just a few hours from Santa Fe.

I arrived in Santa Fe on Tuesday, the day before the events of Indian Market were about to kick off. On Wednesday, I attended the Postcommodity reception for It Wasn’t the Dream of Golden Cities at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, and then the Institute of American Indian Arts Gala: "The '80s: A Totally Rad Revolution" (1980s themed!). The Postcommodity crew speaks rather eloquently about their work, and you can read more about this particular installation on their website.

Lara Evans has been covering Postcommodity's MoCNA installation on her blog, and she snapped this picture of me with my long-time friend Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, who is currently the Director of the Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg. We are standing in front of the multimedia installation P’oe iwe navi ûnp’oe dînmuu (My Blood is in the Water). The graffiti in the background was done sometime the night before by an anonymous artist.

Amber-Dawn and I were all dressed up in our 1980s Gala gear. Both the president of IAIA, Dr. Bob Martin, and the president of the student government, Mylan Tootoosis, said that the Gala was a success and raised thousands of dollars for future IAIA student scholarships. In fact, they raised the most this year than any other year.

I spent Thursday in meetings during the day, then I attended the MoCNA exhibit openings where I caught up with artists Doug Miles, Frank Buffalo Hyde, Yatika Fields, Thomas Marcus, Rose Simpson, Razelle Benally, Chris Eyre, Sherry Farrell Racette, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Lara Evans, Erica Lord, the Postcommodity artists, Joanna Big Feather, and many many many others. MoCNA's ability to draw the best of the best when it comes to art exhibits and discussion panels made it our favorite hang-out spot during Market.





Traffic in Santa Fe was insane that day, and so I didn't make it out to the Tsosie Gaussoin's Axiom fashion and jewelry show at the Poeh Museum (which was located outside of town), but, luckily, Lara and Erica hopped onto their scooter (in skirts!) and were able to make it to the opening. They shared these wonderful images with me:






All of this happened before Market even 'officially' started - and I have much more to post! Next up will be a breakdown of the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday events...