Dan Vallo
(Acoma Pueblo) is awarded Best of Show at Santa Fe Indian Market's
2024 Awards Ceremony in the Diverse Arts Classification
SANTA
FE, N.M., Aug. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Santa Fe
Indian Market is pleased to announce this year's Best of Show, Best
of Classification, and Special Award winners in a variety of
classifications. Since 1922, Santa Fe Indian Market, the world's
largest and most prestigious Native North American art market, has
awarded Best of Show winners to exceptional Native North American
artists in a variety of juried categories.
Over 50 judges, experts in various media, spent most of the day
Thursday, August 15, reviewing and
critiquing this year's entries and determining the winners. The
announcement of the Best of Show, Best of Class, and Special Award
winners was made public at the Best of Show Ceremony on Friday
afternoon.
All the Best of Show winners' extraordinary artwork is available
this weekend during the Santa Fe Indian Market on the Plaza in
downtown Santa Fe.
The 2024 Best of Classification winners
are:
Class I: Jewelry
Winner: Sarah Aragon (Navajo
Nation)
Title: Back in the Saddle – Horse Headstall with silver
female ring bit
Dimensions: 33" x 9" x 6"
Materials: Handcrafted sterling silver from Tufa cast ingots,
shaped by chiseling, chasing, and filing secured on a leather
headstall. Stone inlay work of Mediterranean coral,
Castle Dome turquoise, Morenci turquoise, Kingman turquoise,
Persian turquoise, and Carico Lake turquoise.
Class II: Pottery
Winner: Garrett Maho (Hopi)
Title: Gentle Rain— hand-built pot
Dimensions: 11" diameter
Materials: traditional clay, paints, and paint brushes. Stones used
to polish. Outdoor traditional wood and dung firing. All natural
pigments.
Class III: Painting, Drawing, Graphics &
Photography
Winner: Johnson Yazzie (Navajo
Nation)
Title: AM 660 Afternoon —painting
Dimensions: 53" x 48"
Materials: acrylic and oil canvas.
Class IV: Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carving &
Sculpture
Winner: Arthur Holmes Jr.
(Hopi)
Title: Chasing Star – Na-ngashu Katsina— Chasing Star is a
handsome figure who usually appears during mix-dance
Dimensions: 16 ½" x 5 ½"
Materials: Carved from roots of a cottonwood tree, oil paint.
Class V: Sculpture
Winner: Ryan Benally (Navajo Nation)
Title: Feathered Prayers— Sculpture inspired by the
Navajo feather ceremony
Dimensions: 63.5" x 24" x 24"
Materials: Italian marble, black granite, stainless steel base, CNC
cut design on the base, carved with hammer and chisel, electric
power tools, and hand-polished to 8000 grit.
Class VI: Textiles
Winner: Isabel Gonzales (Jemez
Pueblo / Walatowa)
Untitled—Hand-embroidered ladies' manta with a traditional
pattern
Dimensions: 60" w x 48" l
Materials: Cotton monks' cloth, hand-spun yarn on drop spindle,
commercial yarn.
Class VII: Diverse Arts
Winner: Dan Vallo (Acoma Pueblo) Best of Show
Title: Pueblo Revolt Ensemble— rendition of a set of weapons
used by many Pueblo warriors during the time of the Pueblo
Revolt
Dimensions: 66" x 14" x 5"
Materials: Obsidian flint knapped dagger, handle made of yucca cord
encased in clear resin, Juniper bow backed with over 150 wild
turkey feathers, handmade twisted bow string, rawhide quiver, red
cedar wood arrows.
Class VIII: Beadwork & Quillwork
Winner:
Monica J. Raphael (Grand Traverse
Ottowa / Chippewa)
Title: Indede Odayi - My Dad's Horse — Bead and quillwork on
birchbark displayed on a horse mannequin with a handmade doll
Dimensions: 18 ½" x 19"
Materials: Woodland porcupine quillwork on birch bark. Otter hide,
smoked deer hide, replica dimes, and a found horse as a mannequin
wearing a miniature saddle. Doll constructed with brains tan smoked
deer hide. All natural materials, harvested and prepared by
artist.
Class IX: Youth (Artists aged 17 and under)
Winner:
Aydrian Day (Ho-Chunk, Anishinaabe
and Lakota)
Title: HoCak Manape — (translates to Ho-Chunk warrior)—Otter
turban and Otter medicine bag
Dimensions: 8" x 12" x 6" and 11" x 8"
Materials: Otter pelts, smoked hide, commercial hide, and cotton.
Seed and true cut bead adornments.
Class XI: Basketry
Winner: Caleb Hoffman, (Cherokee/ Penobscot)
Title: Embers — hand-pounded ash point basket with
sweetgrass
Dimensions: 8" diameter
Materials: Double-woven, plated-point basket, inspired by teacher,
Jeremy Frey.
2024 Special Award Winners
Excellence in traditional
Hopi carvings: Wayland Namingha
Excellence in lapidary: Ernest
Benally
Excellence in contemporary Hopi carvings: Mark Taho
Traditional Pottery Award: Robert
Patricio
Mark Tahbo Memorial Award: Garrett
Maho
Tony Da' Memorial Award: Jared
Tso
Make Me Smile Youth Award: Suyma Maho
Margaret Tafoya Memorial Award: Nancy
Youngblood
Sarafina Tafoya Memorial Award: Sergio
Lugo
Mela Youngblood Memorial Award: Daniel
Begay
Oqwa Pi Memorial Award for Excellence in Traditional Pueblo
Painting: Thomas Tapia
Anita Da' Memorial Award to Encourage the Work of a Young
Potter: Xavian Suazo
IAIA Alumni Award: Adrian Wall
The Native American Art Magazine Award of Excellence: Merlin Little
Thunder
Santa Fe Indian Market's Best of Show Ceremony was sponsored
by JoAnn and Bob Balzer and the Best of Show Luncheon was
sponsored by the Institute of American Indian
Arts (IAIA). SWAIA is grateful for these generous
contributions. A complete list of winners in all classifications
will be posted on the SWAIA website this week. Congratulations to
all the winners!
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 North American artists by producing and
promoting the Santa Fe Indian Market —the biggest and most
prestigious Indian art event in the world since 1922. SWAIA
cultivates excellence and innovation across traditional and
non-traditional art forms and develops programs and events that
support, promote and honor Native American artists
year-round. swaia.org
IG: santafeindianmarket
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SOURCE Southwestern Association for Indian Arts