SWAIA and IPCC join forces to promote Native art

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A belt buckle available on the new Shumakolowa website. The buckle was created by artist Gerald Lomaventema, a Hopi jeweler who won Best in Jewelry at the 2014 Santa Fe Indian Market.

Andy Beale

Digital Producer- Albuquerque Business First

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The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts announced they are signing a memorandum of understanding affirming the two organizations will collaborate to promote Native artists in the state.

IPCC spokeswoman Dyannah Byington said the collaboration will benefit Native and traditional artists throughout New Mexico.

"It's two premier arts organizations joining forces, and we can bring more attention to those artists creating works using traditional and handcrafted methods," Byinton said.

The IPCC launched a new website earlier this month, shumakolowa.com, to showcase artists from pueblos around the state. It allows Native artists to sell their works over the internet. Byington said the website is a kind of online parallel to the Santa Fe Indian Market run by the SWAIA.

"There isn't sort of a digital version of that, and we're seeing Shumakolowa as bringing Native artists into the digital age," she said. "A lot of these artists don't even have a website, and we're using it to help them market themselves."

Byington said the two organizations haven't yet worked out the details on how SWAIA will participate in the website, but there have been some ideas kicked around.

"They (SWAIA) have a big gala and auction each year. We were thinking about using the website to do a digital version of that," she said.

The IPCC and the SWAIA will hold a press event and sign the memorandum of understanding at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m.

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