Press & Media

Winter Indian Market Returns to La Fonda Hotel in Downtown Santa Fe

  Winter Indian Market Returns to La Fonda Hotel in Downtown Santa Fe Holiday shopping direct from Indigenous Artists   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—October 25, 2021; Santa Fe, N.M.— The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts is pleased to announce the dates of this year’s Winter Indian Market. The weekend shopping event will commence on Saturday, November …

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SWAIA Announces New Board Appointments

SWAIA Announces New Board Appointments In Advance of Centennial Year L. Stephine Poston elected Chair – SWAIA Board of Directors NEWS PROVIDED BY Southwestern Association for Indian Arts  Oct 14, 2021, 06:45 ET SANTA FE, N.M., Oct. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is pleased to announce the appointment of its newly elected executive committee …

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Kim Peone | Executive Director of SWAIA

Wake Up Call’s MK Mendoza speaks with Executive Director, Kim Peone

Indigenous Resilience Transforms Into Success and Poetic Justice at Virtual Santa Fe Indian Market By MK MENDOZA • OCT 22, 2020 Wake Up Call’s MK Mendoza speaks with Executive Director of SWAIA, Kim Peone about the success experienced at this year’s virtual Santa Fe Indian Market, now placing it in the lead as a model for helping artists …

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‘Walk with Pride’, Santa Fe Indian Market Haute Fashion Show documentary (short film) Wins Regional Emmy

   Walk with Pride, Santa Fe Indian Market Haute Fashion Show documentary (short film)  Wins Regional Emmy  On Saturday, September 19th, 2020 “Walk with Pride,” a short documentary about the popular Indigenous Fashion Show at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), was awarded a Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy in the category of Special Event …

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2020 Virtual Winter Market

Virtual Winter Market is around the corner.  Please stay tuned!

Q & A with 2020 Merchandise Artist Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose

Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose is a Diné digital artist who specializes in 2-D creations and 3-D printed jewelry, and was featured in the 2018 Fashion Show with a line of 3-D printed looks. With a Virtual Indian Market, his futuristic designs with natural elements was a natural choice for this year’s merchandise. We asked Adrian …

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SWAIA Develops “NDN World:” A Virtual 3D World Showcasing Native Art

If you haven’t heard of NDN World yet, don’t worry, you will soon. In March, the Southwestern Association of Indian Arts, the non-profit that produces the 99-year-old Santa Fe Indian Market, embarked on a project with consulting partners, the Clark Hulings Fund and Free Agent Source to create a virtual gathering space. The virtual space, named NDN World, is the …

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Fashion

SWAIA’s Fashion Show is Now Virtual

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—August 5, 2020; Santa Fe, NM—The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts is pleased to announce this year’s Virtual Fashion Show premiering at SWAIA.org—August 10 through August 16, 2020. SWAIA’s annual Fashion Show is produced by Amber-Dawn Bear Robe (Siksika Nation) showcasing the best of North American Indigenous fashion. “Indigenous fashion is continually changing, …

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Support of CommUNITY Learning Network during 2020 Virtual Market

  Community Learning Network Mobilized Volunteers and Interns to Help SWAIA Artists Create Websites     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 1, 2020; Santa Fe, NM: Community Learning Network (CLN) mobilized an informal and formal network and coordinated more than 40 interns and volunteers (meet a few of them here) from a range of partner organizations including Stonehill College, Villanova University, University of Portland, University …

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A Tremendous Start to Virtual Indian Market!

Thanks to all of YOU, Virtual Indian Market has started off with a bang! We have already received feedback that speaks to the importance of supporting artists during these uncertain times: ** As a former SWAIA Board member, I must say how impressed I am by the organization’s dedication to its artists and members, especially …

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SWAIA Launches Global Native American Art Marketplace With Help From the Clark Hulings Fund & Artspan

SANTA FE, N.M., June 29, 2020 (Newswire.com) –​​​​​​The Southwestern Association for Indian Art (SWAIA) is pleased to announce additional details about their partnership with the Clark Hulings Fund, which will launch the 2020 Virtual Indian Market on Aug. 1, 2020, while providing business training and support to Native artists. A further collaboration with Artspan.com is producing e-commerce websites …

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VIRTUAL INDIAN MARKET ARTISTS

Sharon Abeyta Victoria Adams Richard Aguilar Avery Aguilar Robert Albert Renee Allen Marla Allison Carlon Ami Ephraim Anderson Quinton Antone Venancio Aragon Irveta Aragon Allen Aragon Le’Ana Asher Francisco Bailon Virginia Ballenger Carlin Bear Don’t Walk Nanibaa Beck Victor Beck, Sr. Berdine Begay Erick Begay Eddie Begay Darryl Begay Frederick Begay Jr Marwin Begaye Roberta Begaye Daryl Begaye Esther Belin Veronica Benally Ernest Benally Tina Benavente George Bennett Donna Bennett Lester Berryhill Wayne Beyale Christian Bigwater Michael Billie Jolene Bird Dante Biss Grayson Leslie Bitsie, Jr. James Black Beverly Blacksheep Galen LaRoche Lee Bowers Albert Bowie Debra Box Karen Box …

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SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR

SANTA FE INDIAN MARKET WELCOMES NEW DIRECTOR

Kim Peone will be the first Native American woman in SWAIA’s history to serve as Executive Director After a nationwide search, SWAIA’s Board of Directors is proud to announce the selection of Kim Peone as its new Executive Director. Peone is an enrolled member of the Colville Confederated Tribes of Washington and currently resides in …

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SWAIA's Inaugural Virtual Indian Market Drives Sales and Membership

SWAIA's Inaugural Virtual Indian Market Drives Sales and Membership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—September 14, 2020; Santa Fe, N.M.— The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts is pleased to announce a successful conclusion and excellent sales results from the organization’s first-ever Virtual Indian Market. The virtual market drove sales for SWAIA’s 450 participating artists and increased membership by 144 percent.

Under the leadership of SWAIA’s new Executive Director, Kim Peone (Colville Confederated Tribes / Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) and SWAIA’s board of directors, the organization pivoted to launch a reimagined, digital Indigenous art market— August 1 to August 31, 2020.

Out of the 1,117 Indigenous artists who were juried into the 2020 Santa Fe Indian Market, 450 artists joined the inaugural Virtual Indian Market. Of the initial artist participants, only 77 artists had existing websites; at the time of the Virtual Indian Market launch that number increased to 450.

The Virtual Indian Market was made possible with the support of Artspan LLC (Artspan.com) which was responsible for helping SWAIA artists build several hundred individually branded artist sites and integrating the sites into an art Marketplace. The Clark Hulings Fund also played an important role in providing business education and training to SWAIA artists.

“We are hoping to attract more participants: artists who have been tracking and evaluating the virtual market. We hope these artists will make the decision to come onboard with us because this is something that we will continue to promote. We will continue to have events throughout the year to drive people to the artists’ websites,” said Kim Peone.

When evaluating the success of the virtual market, it is important to note that SWAIA and the annual Santa Fe Indian Market are more than just a once-a-year sales opportunity; SWAIA serves as a cultural and artistic meeting place and support organization for more than 1,000 Indigenous artists in both the U.S. and Canada.

We were thrilled and grateful for all that SWAIA staff did for the artists this year,” said Barbara Harjo whose husband, Benjamin Harjo Jr., is a veteran and award-winning Santa Fe Indian Market artist. The couple has been attending and participating in Indian Market for over 30 years and the family has been involved since 1921.

 “The virtual Indian Market kept us going at a time that we really needed the support and the momentum and we made sales too.”

An additional SWAIA initiative, whose preliminary plans and successful launch was achieved this August, is the virtual “NDN World” on the Vircadia platform. SWAIA staff will continue to develop, train and promote the virtual space as both as a market and meeting place.

A Virtual Winter Indian Market is planned for November 27, 2020. Stay tuned for more details.

PRESS INQUIRIES:

Audrey Rubinstein | The METTA Agency

audrey@themettaagency.com

505.490.5029

About SWAIA:



The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is a non-profit organization supporting Native American arts and culture. It creates economic and cultural opportunities for Native American artists by producing and promoting the Santa Fe Indian Market, the biggest and most prestigious Indian art event in the world since 1922; cultivating excellence and innovation across traditional and non-traditional art forms; and developing programs and events that support, promote, and honor Native artists year-round. swaia.org 

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