The road to SWAIA Indian Market is long, not just for the artists. Did you know that gallery owners and private dealers depend on Indian Market to make their businesses profitable each year? Indian Market brings collectors from all over the world to Santa Fe for this one weekend in late August, and dealers frantically work to put something special together to attract those buyers. This year's Indian Market takes place Saturday and Sunday, August 21 and 22.
Take Martha "Marti" Struever, for instance. Marti is a private dealer, having once operated her own gallery in Chicago before relocating to Santa Fe. She has been in the business for thirty-six years. Starting with one purchase of a piece of jewelry in Arizona, Marti has built her own exquisite personal collection of fine Native American arts, developed relationships with and encouraged the budding careers of top Native artists for years. She has also cultivated a vast knowledge of Native American arts, which garnered her the distinction of being the first person to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award granted by the Antique Tribal Art Dealer Association (ATADA) for contributing to the understanding and preservation of tribal art.
Every year, Marti hosts her own exhibition and sale at Santa Fe's luxurious Eldorado Hotel called "Marti's Choice," where she offers up for sale the best in traditional and contemporary Native American arts. This year, she will be exhibiting from Wednesday, August 18 through the weekend. Since Indian Market time gets people out hustling and bustling to get things done, I snagged the opportunity to get Marti talking about what it's like to be an independent dealer getting ready for Indian Market and some of her favorite shows she's mounting this year. Enjoy the interview HERE:
(Please note that this series in in no way affiliated with SWAIA or SWAIA Indian Market)
No comments:
Post a Comment