Arizona State Museum’s Southwest Indian Art Fair brings together a cross-section of Native American cultural traditions through art sales, music and dance performances and demonstrations by highly skilled artists. Living cultural practices, coupled with meaningful conversations with the artists, provide context for understanding the artwork produced and on sale. This year’s fair, on February 23rd and 24th, presents 200 different artists and six performing groups from Native nations throughout the Southwest U.S..

ASM director Dr. Beth Grindell explains why ASM has held this fair for the last 20 years. “For 120 years we at ASM have worked to fulfill our founding mandate–to collect and preserve Arizona’s antiquities, its cultural resources. Our mission is to promote understanding of and respect for the peoples and cultures of the region. Our vision is a community, indeed an entire state, which knows and celebrates its diverse cultural heritage and uses that heritage to build a better future. Mandate, mission and vision come together in our Southwest Indian Art Fair–ASM’s largest and signature annual event. Two hundred artists gather with us every year. As descendants of ancient cultures, each artist is a representative of a rich heritage, his talent the culmination of centuries of tradition, each piece the latest iteration of an ancient and enduring form of aesthetic expression. It is this they come to share with you.”

Each year we look forward to seeing the incredible beauty and ingenuity of the artists, to enjoy the dance and music performances, to savor the fry bread, tamales, and other Southwest foods, to renew friendships and to share this with our visitors. The following series of blog entries will feature some of the artists and traditions that are highlighted at this year’s Southwest Indian Art Fair.

We look forward to seeing you at SWIAF!

For more information about tickets, parking and schedules visit our website’s SWIAF pages.

–Lisa Falk

ASM blog editor, Lisa Falk, serves on the SWIAF committee and organizes the performances presented at the fair.