News Release: 32nd annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival celebrates Native arts in Indy, June 22-23
Order advance discount tickets for major cultural event at Eiteljorg.org/IndianMarketandFestival
Jimmie Harrison (Navajo [Diné])
Mother Earth Father Sky, inlaid jewelry, 2023, 2 x 3 inches
Monday, June 10, 2024:
INDIANAPOLIS – One of the nation’s top Native American art markets returns June 22 and 23 when the 32nd annual Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival takes place at the Eiteljorg Museum in downtown Indianapolis. Nearly 150 Native artists from across the United States and Canada will show and sell their beautiful art, such as jewelry, pottery, basketry, sculpture, weavings and paintings.
As one of the biggest multicultural events in Indianapolis each summer, Indian Market and Festival features artists’ booths inside the Eiteljorg and outside under tents on the museum grounds. Market-goers enjoy strolling from booth to booth, meeting or revisiting with artists to learn about their cultures through patronizing their art. Many market artists return each year and have loyal collectors who shop from them. This year, approximately 40 of the artists are showing at Indian Market and Festival for the first time, and will undoubtedly cultivate new fans of their work.
Artist Roy Tenorio (San Felipe Pueblo), right, meeting market-goers at Indian Market and Festival.
Image by Hadley Fruits Photography, 2022
“Whether you are a longtime market-goer or a first-time visitor, the Eiteljorg’s Indian Market and Festival is the place for amazing experiences where you can shop for exceptional Native art such as jewelry, get to know the artists, enjoy music and dance performances and broaden your cultural horizons,” Eiteljorg President and CEO Kathryn Haigh said. “Typically drawing thousands of people, the market is one of the Eiteljorg Museum’s biggest events all year, and is known for its incredible Hoosier hospitality toward artists and guests alike.”
DG House (Cherokee Tribe NE Alabama), One Heart to Share (2023)
10 x 20 inches. Medium: acrylic on canvas
Performances: Onstage in the museum’s courtyard under The Sails on the Downtown Canal, music and dance will be a big part of the market experience, with multiple acts on both days:
- Accomplished musician and audience favorite Gabriel Ayala (Pascua Yaqui) returns and will perform on classical guitar.
- Native Hawaiian music and dance are exciting additions to this year’s lineup, performed by the Hawaiian quartet Hoapili, joined by dancers from Indy Hula.
- The performers of Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project present dances in their Ojibwe jingle dresses, and spread awareness about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
- Storytelling performer Perry Ground (Onondaga Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Turtle Clan) returns; Ground was a big hit at his recent Eiteljorg appearances.
- Punk rockers Sihasin — a brother-sister duo of Jeneda and Clayson Benally (Diné [Navajo]) — deliver high-energy protest songs on bass and drums.
Admission: Order advance discount tickets for $20 online at Eiteljorg.org/IndianMarketand Festival. At the gate, adult tickets are $25. Children and youth ages 17 and under have free admission. A two-day adult weekend pass is $30 in advance or $40 at the gate. Eiteljorg members get in free; a membership card-holder can bring two adult guests for $20 each. Admission to the market includes the museum and all current exhibitions, including Acts of Faith: Religion and the American West, Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces, and Developing Stories: Native American Photographers in the Field, as well as the museum’s new Native American Galleries exhibition, Expressions of Life: Native Art in North America.
JJ Otero (Navajo / Hopi),
Ethiopian Opal in Castellated Bezel, 2023
75 x .75 x .75 inches
Know before you go: Market hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, both days. Free parking is available while spaces last in the White River State Park underground garage. Festival food, including frybread, is an essential part of Indian Market and Festival; several food vendors will be on hand, as well as a booth operated by the Eiteljorg Café. Art activities suitable for all ages will take place in the Nina Mason Pulliam Education Center in the museum’s canal level.
Artist Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), right, greeted market-goers at the 2023 Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival. File photo
Art awards: Many market artists enter artworks for judging as part of the weekend’s juried art competition, which includes awards and cash prizes across various categories. The top prize is the $7,500 Margot L. Eccles Best of Show Award. For early-bird art buyers who want to meet the artists in a more relaxed setting and enjoy the art awards presentation (including Best of Show), the Eiteljorg will host the Market Morning Breakfast at 8 a.m. June 22. Reservations are required; contact Jennifer Hiatt at jhiatt@eiteljorg.com.
Milford Calamity (Navajo), Dragonfly World Necklace, sterling silver, natural Ithaca Peak turquoise, 2023,
18 x 1 x .5 inches
Indian Market and Festival is presented by the Indiana Soybean Alliance and sponsored by the Margot L. Eccles Arts and Culture Fund (a CICF Fund), The Penrod Society and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis. The festival as well as the Market Morning Breakfast also are sponsored by Raymond James.
Peter Boome (Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, b.1972), Recharge, 2022, hand pulled serigraph.
Image courtesy of the artist.
This year’s commemorative Indian Market and Festival T-shirts feature the thunderbird artwork Recharge by Peter Boome (Upper Skagit Indian Tribe) and are available for $25 from the Eiteljorg Museum Store.
For more information, including advance discount tickets, visit Eiteljorg.org/IndianMarketandFestival.
About the Eiteljorg
For 35 years, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of Indianapolis and scenic White River State Park. The Eiteljorg Museum explores the intersection of the arts, histories and cultures of the past and present by sharing the diverse stories of the American West and the Indigenous Peoples of North America. Located on the Central Canal at 500 West Washington St., the Eiteljorg is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Jerry Brown, (Diné), The Dancers (2023),
24×36 inches, acrylic and oil pastel on canvas
Media Contacts
Bryan Corbin
Public Relations Manager
317.275.1315
bcorbin@eiteljorg.com
Bert Beiswanger
Director of Marketing and Communications
317.275.1317
bbeiswanger@eiteljorg.com
Brooke Sullivan
Digital Marketing Manager
317.275.1388
bsullivan@eiteljorg.com
Caption for image on previous page:
Ray D. Garcia (San Felipe Pueblo), Stones of the Earth, jewelry, 2023, 0.5 x 1.5 inches
Editor’s Note:
This article about the Eiteljorg Indian Market and Festival appeared in the June/July 2024 issue of Native American Art magazine:
https://eiteljorg.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Native-American-Art-Magazine-Issue-51-Midwest-Market.pdf