One of Oklahoma’s largest markets gears up for the 17th year of featuring more than 150 prominent Native American artists from approximately 50 tribal nations. The event will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. There’s also a lot of excitement for Cherokee Art Market to return for an in-person format, after two years of a strictly virtual platform. Artists come together not only to present their traditional and contemporary masterpieces, but also to compete for top honors and awards in eight different categories.Booth of Dana Warrington (Menominee/Prairie Band Potawatomi) at the 2019 market.

While awards are announced prior to the start of the market, event coordinator Deborah Fritts wants attendees to know that a map is handed out upon entrance, where you can easily browse by category winner, or to simply find your favorite artist. This year will also have a Special Preview Hour on Saturday, October 9, from 9 to 10 a.m., which allows early birds to browse.

Another unique feature to the market, is the use of stickers on booths to signify how many years an artist has been with the event. The 2022 market features “new, emerging artists, well-established and anywhere in between,” Fritts notes. “There will also be artist talks, storytelling and demonstrations—we want the public to know everything that goes into the making of a piece like pottery or jewelry.”Renee Hoover (Cherokee Nation), Autumns Beauty, commercial reed and commercial dye, 19 x 9”

The featured artist for this year, and last year’s winner of the coveted Culture Keep Award (honoring revived traditions that are thought to have been lost) is Cherokee Nation artist Crystal Hanna. On this year’s featured piece, and her winning pottery piece from last year, Moundville Duck, she says, “It was truly inspired by a stone artifact that is said to be one of the most beautiful Native American artifacts ever discovered. If you ever see it in person as I have, you will get goose bumps!”

Through her apprenticeship with master artist Anna Sixkiller Mitchell, Hanna carries her traditional methods of the Temple Mounds people through her contemporary work.Glenda Mckay (Ingalik-Athabascan), Spring Harvest, sealskin, beaver fur, deer hide, whale bone, fish vertebrae, whale baleen shavings, walrus teeth, ivory beads and detillium shells, 6¼ x 7”Another talented artist to watch for at the market is Ponca and Tohono O’odham Nations artist Shude Victors (Shude meaning smoke maker in the Ponca language). “Growing up with a strong connection to my Ponca people,” says Victors, “I became immersed in the culture, which influenced my profession as an artist. For this year’s Cherokee Art Market, you will see pieces of my artwork that signify cultural identity, pride and strength. My original beaded neckties are inspired by a European gentleman’s attire, which I have combined with the bold artistry of Native American beadwork and symbolism. My beaded neckties allow the individual to enter a professional society, pow-wow or ceremony with the appropriate amount of traditional vibrancy and dignity.”

This will be Victors first in-person Cherokee Art Market experience and is enthusiastic for not only the return of the in-person event, but “to represent in the home state of the Ponca people,” he says.Shude Victors (Ponca/Tohono O’odham), The Native Professional, size 11 cut beads, sewn into Teton broadcloth, backed with satin, silver tie pen with turquoise  stone, 21 x 2”

Also take notice of artists like Alaskan Native artist Glenda McKay, who will display her intricately designed dolls; Emil Her Many Horses (Oglala Lakota) presents beadwork and porcupine quillwork; and Bill Hensley (Chickasaw) will feature larger works on canvas with some framed and unframed drawings.

Fritts shares that her hope for this year’s event is to “help educate the non-Native public. We want to get rid of the stigma that you can only appreciate Native art if you’re a Native person.” —

Cherokee Art Market
October 8-9, 2022
Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa, 777 W. Cherokee Street
Catoosa, OK 74015
(918) 384-6714
www.cherokeeartmarket.com 

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