A Santa Fe Indian Market 2006 competition. He had some interesting comments on the entries and competition.
Robert expressed disappointment with the number of entries in this years pottery competition, "We started by reducing our target for accepted pieces because of the change in the judging place."
He was referring to the fact that the Sweeney Center, venue for previous Indian Market judging, is being demolished and will be replaced by a new conference and exhibition center.
"We simply had less space to judge in at the Inn (of Lorretto). So we anticipated the problem and reduced the number of entries that would be accepted for judging."
What was not anticipated, according to Andrews, was the rainy weather.
Native American pottery is not only hand-coiled and formed, it also is hand-fired, most authentically in open fires outside. Rain makes it impossible to schedule and complete firing in the traditional fashion. This summer has been unusually wet, which can be attested to by the green-ness of the desert across New Mexico and the flooding in Albuquerque.
As a result, Andrews observed that number of pieces entered to be judged was about half of normal.
"This does not diminish the accomplishments of the winners, especially Russell's (Sanchez) Best of Classification and other Standards winners," Andrews said, "I just wish we had seen more entries to judge."
Andrews is wondering whether or not he will continue in a leadership position at Indian Market in 2007. "It takes a lot of time and a lot of volunteers. I just don' t know about next year," Andrews concluded.
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Writer's note: Each year the Santa Fe Indian Market relies on volunteers to function. It could not be done with them. We both thank those who give of their time and encourage anyone who is interested in Indian art to show up as a volunteer next year.
Tribal Artery is the blog about tribal art offered periodically by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its allied web sites at Native-JewelryLink, with gorgeous, genuine American Indian necklaces, bracelets, pendants, pins and earrings; ZuniLink, for hundreds of authentic Native American fetish carvings by Zuni , Cochiti, Navajo and San Felipe artists; Tribal Works, offering a wide selection of tribal art from Africa, Aboriginal Australia, the Arctic and Native America, including Navajo folk art, and Native-PotteryLink, home to the finest in contemporary and historic Native American hand-created pottery, storytellers and nativity sets.
Tribal Artery is the blog about tribal art offered periodically by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its allied web sites at Native-JewelryLink, with gorgeous, genuine American Indian necklaces, bracelets, pendants, pins and earrings; ZuniLink, for hundreds of authentic Native American fetish carvings by Zuni , Cochiti, Navajo and San Felipe artists; Tribal Works, offering a wide selection of tribal art from Africa, Aboriginal Australia, the Arctic and Native America, including Navajo folk art, and Native-PotteryLink, home to the finest in contemporary and historic Native American hand-created pottery, storytellers and nativity sets.
