Art in the West Female Artists Indigenous Artists

Santa Fe Indian Market 2022 Best in Class winners

By Chadd ScottAugust 23, 20220 Comments

Russell Sanchez, San Ildefonso Pueblo, speaking about his Best in Show award earned during SWAIA Indian Market 2022. ©Shayla Blatchford for SWAIA.

Santa Fe Indian Market 2022 Best in Class winners along with the Best of Show and Special Award winners in a variety of classifications were awarded on Friday of the annual event. 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 the nation’s exceptional Indigenous artists in a variety of juried categories.

Over 40 judges, experts in various mediums, spent all day Thursday, August 18, reviewing and critiquing this year’s entries and determining the Santa Fe Indian Market 2022 Best in Class winners along with Best in Show. The announcement of the Best of Show, Best of Class, and Special Award winners was made publicly at the Best of Show Ceremony on Friday afternoon. I had the good fortune of attending the event.

All the Santa Fe Indian Market 2022 Best in Class winners’ artwork was available during Santa Fe Indian Market on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The 2022 Centennial Best of Class winners are:

Class I:  Jewelry

Ernest Benally (Navajo)
Jeweled belt entitled, “Turtle Family”
Handmade and stamped tooled bezel
2″x3″
12 turtle pieces
Made with natural stones and shells

Class II: Pottery (Best of Show)

Russell Sanchez, San Ildefonso Pueblo, best in show pottery from SWAIA Indian Market 2022. Photo by Tira Howard Photography.

Russell Sanchez (San Ildefonso Pueblo)
Polychrome jar- incised, then painted. “100 years in the making!”
8″ w x 7″ d x 10 ½ h
Inlaid with sleeping beauty hematite and lone mountain turquoise.
All traditional materials and firing.

Class III: Painting, Drawing, Graphics & Photography

Cara Romero (Chemehuevi)
Archival pigment print. “The Zenith”
43″ x 48″ x 3″
Digital capture of model with corn on fishing line.

Class IV: Wooden Pueblo Figurative Carving & Sculpture

Manuel Chavarria (Hopi)
Hopi old- style katsina dolls “Qooglee Storyteller Hunters”— set of 2
15″ t x 4.5″ w and 15.5 t x 8.5″ w
Leather cottonwood root, pigment paint, parrot feathers, leather attire, sinew, copper on knives and arrow tips, cotton string, turquoise necklace, and sterling silver pendants.

Class V: Sculpture

Ryan Benally (Diné)
Hand carved Italian marble and granite sculpture, “Bold as Love”
34″ w x 24″h x 10″ d
Love comes and goes but love is infinite. Love is in our hands.

Class VI:  Textiles

Ahkima Honyumptewa (Hopi)
Weaving, “Oryavi Kenel Kwasa”
43″ x 46.5″
Woven wool in diamond and diagonal twills with hills and valleys.

Class VII: Diverse Arts

Glenda McKay (Ingalik Athabascan)
Traditional walrus harpoon with float
Harpoon: 6′ x 2.5″
Float: 48″ x 12″
Handmade 4 strand rope: 30 +”
Hand carved walrus ivory.

Class VIII: Beadwork & Quillwork

Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty (Assiniboine Sioux)
Beaded and quilled horse collar “Walking this Good Way of Life Together”
60″
Original design created by the artist with hopes and dreams for this generation to find healthy partnerships. Designs are centered around Wahpe Wastemna (sweet leaf) as used as good medicine. Used to help partners walk this good way of life. Porcupine Quills, smoked moose hide, antique size 15 beads, brass beads, bells, thimbles, French cut beads, silk ribbon, Ermine, horsehair.

Class IX: Youth (Artists aged 17 and under)

TobieMae Patricio (Acoma Pueblo)
Basket Weave Polychrome Pot
4″ x 5″
Traditional clay, traditional paints, sandstone paints, wild spinach, hand coiled and traditionally fired.

Class XI: Basketry

Jeremy Frey (Passamaquoddy)
“Dawnland”
21.5″h x 11.5″ w
Black ash, sweet grass, dye. Plate weave.
All materials harvested and processed by artist from Maine.

Santa Fe Indian Market’s Centennial Best of Show Ceremony and Luncheon was sponsored by a generous anonymous donation and co-sponsored by Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and JoAnn and Bob Balzer.

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 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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