The
need to preserve and honor tradition was a recurring theme in acceptance
speeches Friday by winners of the 2010 Santa Fe Indian Market judging.
All
the same, at least two traditions were fractured when, for the first
time, two artists tied for Best of Show, and one of them won in
a newly created classification: film.
Blackhorse
Lowe (Navajo) won not only the top prize in the new Moving Images
category for his narrative short Shimásáni but took
a Best of Show honor. Stetson Honyumptewa (Hopi) shared the Best
of Show title while taking the top honor in the classification for
Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carving and Sculpture.
The
winners were announced during the Best of Show Ceremony and Luncheon
at the Santa Fe Convention Center on Friday morning. Bruce Bernstein,
Executive Director of the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts
(SWAIA), which hosts the market, emceed the event, which drew more
than 200 people.
Winners
in 11 different classifications had been notified on Thursday evening
that they would be getting a ribbon Friday, Bernstein said, which
meant that most of them didn't sleep well that night as they waited
to see what they had won.
Several
of the winners spoke of Indian Market's influence in providing much-needed
support for traditional art forms. Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings (Pima/Kiowa),
who won in the Bead Work & Quill Work classification, spoke
of the cultural heritage that has flowed through her family line.
"I
do my grandmother's work," she said. "I do my great-grandmother's
work. This is what they used to do. They are the ones who should
be honored."
Indian Market Classification
Winners |
Classification I: Jewelry Daniel
Sunshine Reeves
Classification II: Pottery Robert Patricio
Classification III: Paintings, Drawings, Graphics
& Photography Eve-Lauryn LaFountain
Classification IV: Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carvings
and Sculpture Stetson Honyumptewa
Classification V: Sculpture Jason Quigno Classification
VI: Textiles Patricia Michaels
Classification VII: Diverse Art Forms Charlene Holy
Bear
Classification VIII: Bead Work & Quill Work Vanessa
Paukeigope Jennings
Classification IX: Youth (17 years and under) Trent
Lee
Classification X: Moving Images (judged in July)
Blackhorse Lowe, for Shim Àsànì
Classification XI: Basketry Dolores Garza
|
Patricia
Michaels (Taos Pueblo), who won in the Textiles classification,
garnered a laugh when she recounted how many visitors to her Indian
Market booth ask her, "What's Indian about your stuff?"
Her
typical response: "I am."
Other
Best of Classification winners were Daniel Sunshine Reeves (Navajo,
Diné) for jewelry; Robert Patricio (Acoma Pueblo) for pottery;
Eve-Lauryn LaFountain (Chippewa) for paintings, drawings, graphics
& photography (specifically for photography another first
in Indian Market, according to Bernstein); Jason Quigno (Saginaw
Chippewa) for sculpture; Charlene Holy Bear (Standing Rock Sioux)
for diverse art forms; Trent Lee (Navajo) for Youth (17 years and
under); Dolores Garza (Haida) for basketry.
John
Torres-Nez, director of artist services for SWAIA, confirmed that
this year's two Best of Show prizes was a first, and that it could
conceivably happen again. He said no matter how often the 60 judges
debated over the top prize, the result was always a tie.
"So
we had a discussion," he said, "and someone asked, 'Is
there any reason we can't award two prizes?'"
After
the ceremony, Lowe said the fact that Indian Market added film artists
to its classifications "displays a progress toward more media-savvy
storytellers. It's good that they are considering this (film) as
an art form.
His
short is based on a story his grandmother told him about her desire
to attend English-language boarding school in hopes it would give
her entry into a broader world.
Indian
Market, which started in 1922, continues through the weekend on
and around the Plaza downtown. SWAIA is estimating that some 80,000
people will visit the event.
|