Daniel Vallo (Acoma Pueblo) will be honored with the “Best of Show” award in the Diverse Arts Classification category at the 2024 Santa Fe Indian Market Awards Ceremony
SANTA FE, NM, 16 August 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Santa Fe Indian Market is pleased to announce this year’s winners of Best of Show, Best of Classification and Special Award awards in various categories. Since 1922, Santa Fe Indian Market, the world’s largest and most prestigious Native American art market, has presented Best of Show awards to outstanding Native American North American artists in various juried categories.
Dan Vallo, Best of Show 2024, “Pueblo Revolt” © Tira Howard Photography for SWAIA.
Over 50 jurors, experts in various media, spent most of the day Thursday, August 15Review and critique this year’s entries and determine the winners. The winners of the Best of Show, Best of Class and Special Awards were announced at the Best of Show ceremony on Friday afternoon.
All of the exceptional artwork from the Best of Show winners will be available for purchase this weekend during the Santa Fe Indian Market on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe.
The winners of the Best of Classification 2024 are:
Class I: Jewellery
Winner: Sarah Aragon (Navajo Nation)
Title: Back in the saddle – Horse headpiece with silver ladies’ ring bit
Dimensions: 33″ x 9″ x 6″
Materials: Handcrafted sterling silver from Tufa ingots, shaped by chiseling, chasing and filing, attached to a leather headpiece. Stone inlay of Mediterranean Coral, Castle Dome Turquoise, Morenci Turquoise, Kingman Turquoise, Persian Turquoise and Carico Lake Turquoise.
Class II: Pottery
Winner: Garrett Maho (Hopi)
Title: Gentle rain— hand-built pot
Dimensions: 11″ diameter
Materials: traditional clay, paints and brushes. Stones for polishing. Traditional outdoor firing with wood and dung. All pigments are natural.
Class III: Painting, Drawing, Graphics & Photography
Winner: Johnson Yazzie (Navajo Nation)
Title: AM 660 Afternoon -Painting
Dimensions: 53″ x 48″
Materials: acrylic and oil canvas.
Class IV: Figurative wood carving and sculpture from the Pueblo culture
Winner: Arthur Holmes, Jr. (Hopi)
Title: Chasing Star – Na-ngashu Katsina – Chasing Star is a pretty character who usually performs in mix dance
Dimensions: 16 ½” x 5 ½”
Materials: Carved from the roots of a poplar tree, oil paint.
Class V: Sculpture
Winner: Ryan Benally (Navajo Nation)
Title: Feathered Prayers— Sculpture inspired by the Navajo feather ceremony
Dimensions: 63.5″ x 24″ x 24″
Materials: Italian marble, black granite, stainless steel base, CNC cut design on the base, carved with hammer and chisel and power tools and hand polished to 8000 grit.
Class VI: Textiles
Winner: Isabel Gonzales (Jemez Pueblo / Valatova)
Untitled—Hand-embroidered ladies manta with traditional pattern
Dimensions: 60″ W x 48″ L
Materials: Cotton monk’s cloth, hand-spun yarn on a drop spindle, commercially available yarn.
Class VII: Various Arts
Winner: Daniel Vallo (Acoma Pueblo) The best of the show
Title: Pueblo Revolt Ensemble— Representation of a series of weapons used by many Pueblo warriors during the Pueblo Revolt
Dimensions: 66″ x 14″ x 5″
Materials: Flint dagger made from obsidian, handle made from yucca cord set in clear resin, juniper bow trimmed with over 150 wild turkey feathers, hand-crafted twisted bowstring, rawhide quiver, red cedar arrows.
Class VIII: Beadwork and Quilling
Winner: Monica J. Raphael (Grand Traverse Ottawa/Chippewa)
Title: Indede Odayi – My father’s horse – Bead and feather embroidery on birch bark, displayed on a horse mannequin with a handmade doll
Dimensions: 18 ½” x 19″
Materials: Porcupine quills on birch bark. Otter fur, smoked deer hide, replica dimes and a found horse mannequin with a miniature saddle. Mannequin made from stag brown smoked deer hide. All materials are natural and were harvested and prepared by the artist.
Class IX: Youth (artists up to 17 years)
Winner: Aydrian Day (Ho-Chunk, Anishinaabe and Lakota)
Title: HoCak Manape — (translated: Ho-Chunk Warrior) – Otter Turban and Otter Medicine Bag
Dimensions: 8″ x 12″ x 6″ and 11″ x 8″
Materials: Otter skins, smoked hide, trade hide and cotton. Embellishments made from seeds and real cut pearls.
Class XI: Basket weaving
Winner: Caleb Hoffman(Cherokee/Penobscot)
Title: Embers — hand-hammered basket made of ash lace with lady grass
Dimensions: 8″ diameter
Materials: Double woven plated basket inspired by teacher, Jeremy Frey.
Winner of the Special Prize 2024
Excellence in Traditional Hopi Carvings: Wayland Namingha
Excellence in gemstone cutting: Ernest Benally
Excellence in Contemporary Hopi Carvings: Mark Taho
Award for traditional pottery: Robert Patrick
Mark Tahbo Memorial Prize: Garrett Maho
Tony Da’ Memorial Award: Jared Tso
Make Me Smile Youth Award: Suyma Maho
Margaret Tafoya Memorial Prize: Nancy Youngblood
Sarafina Tafoya Memorial Award: Sergio Lugo
Mela Youngblood Memorial Prize: Daniel Begay
Oqwa Pi Memorial Award for outstanding achievements in traditional Pueblo painting: Thomas Tapia
Anita Da’ Memorial Award to support the work of a young potter: Xavian Suazo
IAIA Alumni Award: Adrian Wall
The Native American Art Magazine Award of Excellence: Merlin Little Thunder
The Santa Fe Indian Market Best of Show ceremony was sponsored by JoAnn and Bob Balzer and the Best of Show luncheon was sponsored by the Institute for American Indian Art (IAIA). SWAIA is grateful for these generous contributions. A complete list of winners for all classifications will be posted on the SWAIA website this week. Congratulations to all winners!
About SWAIA:
The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) is a nonprofit organization that supports Native American arts and culture. It creates economic and cultural opportunities for Native Americans by hosting and promoting the Santa Fe Indian Market – the largest and most prestigious Native American arts event in the world since 1922. SWAIA promotes excellence and innovation in traditional and non-traditional art forms and develops programs and events that support, promote and honor Native American artists throughout the year. swaia.org
I G: santafeindinmarkt
SOURCE Southwestern Association for Indian Arts
