SANTA FE, NM.- The world’s oldest, largest and most prestigious contemporary Native American art event, Santa Fe Indian Market, marks its 97th year by inviting some of the City’s leading institutions, galleries, art markets and Native cultural events, to join in the first coordinated Native Art Week, from August 12 – 19 in 2018. The founding members of Native Art Week have been invited based their academic and cultural importance— and in the case of commercial members, their reputation for authenticity and cultural sensitivity.

Announcing the establishment of Native Art Week, Santa Fe Indian Market Executive Director Ira Wilson said, “Native Art Week is an opportunity for the art community to combine efforts and let the world know that August in Santa Fe, NM, is the best place to experience Native American art.”

Native Art Week’s premier provides the public a coordinated, central calendar and web-page with detailed information on all member activities and direct links to all member’s websites— offering an easy way to explore and plan participation in the myriad of events which have grown up around Indian Market over the decades.

Native Art Week’s 2018 events include special exhibitions, tours and panel discussions by the Museum of Indian Art and Culture, The Wheelwright Museum, The Museum of International Folk Art, Project Indigene, the School of Advanced Research, The Antique Tribal Art Dealers Association (ATADA) and the Institute for American Indian Art. Three major antique shows featuring important works of Native Art occur during the week; Objects of Art, August 9-12; the Antique Indian and Ethnographic Art Show, August 10-13; and the Antique American Indian Art Show August 14-16. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s Native Cinema Showcase returns for its eighteenth year, screening films free of charge at the New Mexico Museum of History August 14-19.

Santa Fe galleries presenting special exhibits during Native Art Week include Andrea Fisher Gallery, Blue Rain Gallery, Brent Mackley Gallery, Ellsworth Gallery, Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art, Allan Houser Gallery, Faust Gallery, Peters Projects, The Gerald Peters Gallery, Nedra Matteucci Gallery, Morning Star Gallery, Sherwoods Spirit of America and Shiprock Santa Fe.

More than 100,000 visitors are expected to attend the week’s events to take advantage of an unparalleled opportunity to learn about and purchase both traditional and cutting-edge Native art works.