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SALT LAKE CITY — Dozens of Native American artists will come to Utah's capital city to showcase a variety of beadwork, paintings, pottery, sculptures, weavings and more this weekend.
It's the Natural History Museum of Utah's 10th year hosting the Indigenous Art Market. Over 45 Indigenous creators will sell their wares Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. All art is purchased directly from the artists, who receive 100% of the sales.
"The Indigenous Art Market at the Natural History Museum of Utah offers a wonderful opportunity to experience and collect genuine Native artwork while engaging with the artists in person," museum store manager Suzanne Ruhlman said in a statement. "It's so wonderful to meet the artist and hear the story of the piece you fall in love with."
This is Shannia Crank's first time at the market. Although she's sold at a variety of other markets through her family business Puganini Design, she's not sure what to expect since this weekend's market also coincides with an eclipse, which is observed differently among Native American cultures. Crank's Navajo beliefs, for example, dictate that individuals stay inside, face to the east and pray. She plans on observing those traditions the best she can while not interacting with customers.
Crank, a full-time mom and artist, learned beadwork as a teen through online videos and asking others in her community about their techniques.
"When you do the outline of the beadwork and you start to fill it in, you can see the colors. That's my favorite part is just looking at the whole aspect of it and finding the different colors that lay together so smoothly," she said. "What I've been taught is you should look for the little easter egg in each piece, because how I'm taught is that when you create something, you're always supposed to leave either a mistake you made or you're supposed to make a mistake in your work because nothing's perfect in life. I thought that was pretty beautiful to learn about; you can't make anything perfect because it just won't be perfect and that's OK."
Crank is excited to see different perspectives on art and a variety of different traditions, techniques and styles at the market. She said it's a good opportunity for Native Americans living in urban places like Salt Lake City who don't always have the opportunity to participate in markets and powwows on reservations.
"It's important to share the culture and to teach others that we're still here, we're still part of America in a big way and we still have our influence and power in ourselves to push through and to allow others to explore our diversity," she said.
Cherokee painter John Balloue agreed that the market will be an opportunity to see a wide variety of artwork.
"There's going to be a lot of talented people there and a lot of good things to see and do," he said. "With Native people, sometimes it's things that you haven't seen before or a different way of looking at things. Especially now with contemporary people, it's a newer way of interpreting traditional ideas and traditional values that we may not have seen before."
Although he was an artistic child, Balloue didn't begin painting until after he finished serving in the military during the Vietnam War. Initially the classes he took were for his own pleasure, but he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in art and started his own business. His art has gone through different phases over the years, but Balloue says his work draws on his own experiences in the Native community as well as places and people he's met in his own life.
"You go someplace or you see something and as an artist, you go, 'Wow, I could do my twist on that, or that opens up a part of my brain,'" he said. "I'm a child of the '60s, so I went through a lot of political type of things, but I wanted to share my work that had a positive affirmation of Native lives and Native people from my perspective."
The event will also feature performances by Ute/Hopi and Blackfood/Navajo dancers with Buffalo Nation; a collections showcase by the Anthropology Department; Indigenous food offerings; artist talks from Navajo artist and photographer Eugene Taphe and Indigenous painter and organizer Jihan Gearon.
Tickets to the market are included with Museum admission, which is free for University of Utah faculty, staff, and students as well as enrolled members of a federally- or state-recognized tribe and any children in their household. Tribal members must present a tribal enrollment card or tribal ID on-site. More information and museum tickets can be found online.
