Eiteljorg Indian Market & Festival, June 22-23, 2019 @eiteljorgmuseum @whiteriverstprk

Image courtesy Eiteljorg Museum. Used with written permission.

By Bryan Corbin
Eiteljorg Museum

One of the region’s best art and cultural experiences returns to downtown Indianapolis the weekend of June 22-23, 2019: the 27th annual Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market and Festival.

More than 120 Native American and First Nations artists from more than 50 cultures across the U.S. and Canada will show and sell their fine art, including jewelry, pottery, beadwork, basketry, paintings, sculptures and more.

The Indian Market and Festival takes place on the beautiful Eiteljorg grounds from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and features artists’ booths both outside and inside the museum.

Seasoned art collectors and first-time market-goers alike will appreciate the personal interactions with artists and wide variety of Native fine art available.

Cultural experiences, food and performances are a big part of the weekend; and this year’s event features contemporary and traditional Native musicians, hoop dancing and storytelling. Thousands of visitors attend the market, held every June the weekend after Father’s Day.

“Visitors often say Indian Market and Festival is a wonderful combination of fun and culturally meaningful experiences because it allows them and their families to see Native American art and meet exceptional artists in person,” Eiteljorg President and CEO John Vanausdall said.

“Art collectors appreciate the opportunity to purchase Native art close to home without traveling great distances. Non-collectors get to savor the memorable market and festival atmosphere, and returning artists enjoy the Hoosier hospitality and the opportunity to get reacquainted with old friends and meet new collectors and fans,” he said.

A lineup of Native American performers will appear on the Indian Market and Festival stage June 22 and 23. Two of the four acts also will perform at separate events in the days leading up to the market:

• World champion hoop dancer and musician Tony Duncan (Apache/Arikara/Hidatsa) and his family of dancers astound crowds with their high-energy moves, and they are returning to the Eiteljorg for performances and hoop-dancing workshops. First, the Duncan family performs at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at River West along the White River as part of A Rising Tide, a free outdoor program with Indy Convergence. Then the Duncan family performs at Indian Market, June 22 and 23, and their appearance is through the support of the Arts Midwest Touring Fund.
• The award-winning band Son of Hwéeldi plays a blend of rock, soul, blues and world music based on Navajo and Apache histories that they describe as “resistance rock.” The band will first perform at the Eiteljorg at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 19 during the museum’s free Summer Under The Sails concert series, then will be back June 22-23 to play again during Indian Market.

Music and storytelling is a crowd-pleasing part of Indian Market and Festival. In addition to the Tony Duncan Family and Son of Hwéeldi, the Eiteljorg is pleased to present other entertainers June 22 and 23 during market weekend:

• An a capella group, Sisterz in Song, featuring a trio of young women vocalists from Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara cultures who perform traditional songs. They perform at 11 a.m. both days.
• Cultural storyteller Jacque Tahuka Nunez, who performs “Journeys to the Past,” describing the lifestyle of California’s first people, the Acjachemen Nation of Orange County. She performs at noon both days.

For the entertainers’ onstage performance schedule, visit www.eiteljorg.org/indianmarketandfestival/

Adult tickets to the Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival are $15 at the gate either day. Advance discount tickets are $13 and can be purchased online at www.eiteljorg.org or by calling 317.636.WEST (9378). Youth ages 17 and under are free at Indian Market and Festival. For Eiteljorg Museum members, free admission to the market is available for the individual named on the membership card, but the admission fee will apply for their non-member adult guests.

Tickets to Indian Market and Festival also include museum admission, so plan to experience the museum galleries featuring special exhibitions: A Sense of Beauty: Showcasing the Power and Beauty in Native Art, and Bringing Friends Together: Contemporary Hopi Carvings from the Eagle, Perelman and Rader Collections. Also, see a new traveling exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, For a Love of His People: The Photography of Horace Poolaw, now open at the Eiteljorg.

After a modest start in 1993, the Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival now is considered one of the nation’s top Native American art markets. Artists are invited to participate through a juried selection and must be members of a federally or state recognized tribe. Many of the artists also submit their artwork for judging as part of the weekend’s juried art competition. Ribbons and cash prizes are awarded to top artists in multiple divisions. Last year, nearly $25,000 in prize money was awarded to artists.

This year’s Indian Market and Festival will be of special interest to the participating artists because for the first time it will feature a $5,000 cash prize for the artist whose art work wins the Margot L. Eccles Best of Show Award in the juried art competition. The prize is supported by The Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund, a fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation. The award is named for the late Margot Eccles, a civic leader, philanthropist, art collector, Eiteljorg board member and past chair of Indian Market and Festival, who brought passion, vision and generosity to the annual event.

For the second year in a row, the Eiteljorg will host the Market Morning Breakfast on Saturday morning June 22, for early-bird art collectors who want to meet the artists in a more relaxed setting before the big crowds arrive. Reservations are required to attend the Saturday breakfast; contact csanborn@eiteljorg.com or 317.275.1360 for details.

Popular food vendors will return to the museum grounds during market weekend, including Platero Frybread & Navajo Tacos from New Mexico, as well as Roasted, Toasted and Baked (RTB), Lucky Louie’s Street Food, Bee Coffee Roasters, Menefee Lemonade and Wyliepalooza Ice Cream Emporium’s Wylie Truck. Market-goers also can enjoy the Museum Café and Museum Store. A commemorative Indian Market and Festival T-shirt will be available featuring beautiful art by Gilmore Scott (Diné), Desert Monsoons.

The 27th annual Indian Market & Festival is sponsored by Ice Miller LLP, Arts Midwest, The Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund and the Cripe Charitable Foundation (which are both funds of the Central Indiana Community Foundation) and Mel and Joan Perelman. The entertainment stage sponsor is the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation. Additional support is provided by the museum’s Mrs. Robert S. Eccles Fund.