Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market NEWS 2023

About the Guild

The Heard Museum Guild is the volunteer arm of the Heard Museum. All members of the museum are eligible to join the guild, comprised of a large, dynamic and active group of talented individuals of many different backgrounds. Collectively, they volunteer countless hours annually to support the museum in its mission as a premier, world-class showcase of American Indian art.

Visitors to the museum will encounter volunteers leading public, private and school tours, working as sales associates in the museum store and museum bookstore, greeting them as they enter the museum, and serving in numerous capacities at the annual Indian Fair & Market. Additionally, volunteers work in the library, design educational programs, plan and implement special events, and support Heard Museum internships through the sale of student art merchandise.

The guild provides members with an impressively rich and full calendar of events including lectures, educational opportunities, group tours of galleries and places of interest in the local area, as well as multi-day tours to fascinating, more far-away sites outside the Phoenix area. Guild meetings are held on the third Wednesday of most months and a guild newsletter, Happening Now, is published bi-weekly.

Volunteer roles and schedules are flexible and can meet the demands of busy lives. To join the guild, visit heardguild.org.

Call to Native American Artists from the Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives

The Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives’ Artists Resource Collection is continually expanding with new information and new names. "Artists themselves are the best resource we have to remain both up-to-date and accurate," notes an archives representative. To ensure the continued growth and quality of this vital resource, they ask artists and their galleries to include the archives on their distribution and mailing lists. In addition, the archives seek resumes, photographs of artwork, and copies of printed materials concerning artists and their work to add to their collection. Native artists may also download a questionnaire at heard.org and be a part of this important project.

Fair History

The first Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market was held in May 1959. As today, the fair provided Native artists a venue to display and sell their work and interact directly with the public. Senator Barry Goldwater served as master of ceremonies and the artist roster included such distinguished names as Lucy Lewis (Akimel O’odham), Charles Loloma (Hopi), Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) and Bruce Timeche (Hopi). Between 1968 and 1984, the All-Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit was held in conjunction with the fair. That event was the precursor to today’s juried competition. The museum is thrilled that the 2023 juried competitions will award more than $115,000 in prize money, the highest in fair’s history—truly a fitting milestone in this landmark 65th year of the Indian Fair and Market.

Native American Artists Resource Collection, Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives

The Native American Artists Resource Collection has been a cornerstone of the Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives for over 40 years and contains files of over a quarter million Native American Artists. The physical and online collections are the largest of their kind anywhere, offering biographical and other information on Native American artists, writers and performers. The material collected includes an extraordinarily wide variety of sources, among them journal and newspaper articles, photographs, gallery and exhibition catalogues, interviews, resumes, correspondence, and much more.

"We gratefully acknowledge the generosity of our many donors and artists, as well as the hard work and dedication of many Guild volunteers and Heard Museum staff, without which this world-renowned, premier resource would not be available," notes library and archives staff. They invite you to explore the collection by visiting heard.org.

Wanted: Heard Museum Guides

The Heard Museum houses some of the finest Native American art in the world and endeavors to showcase not only the extraordinary creative vision and talent of the artists, but also the deep connection of the American Indians to their land, history and culture. If you are excited by what you see at the museum, consider becoming a member of the Guild’s Las Guias class and become a guide for the public, private and school tours offered by the museum. After graduation, you will guide visitors from around the world through the museum’s world-renowned collection. The Las Guias guides represent an extraordinary group of individuals from all walks of life and a diversity of career and educational experiences. They all have one thing in common, however: they invariably describe themselves as life-long learners. The program runs for several months between October and April and includes weekly class experiences both in a classroom setting and in the museum itself with lectures, mentors, and a variety of opportunities to delve deeply into the art, history and culture of the American Indians of the Southwest. If you are intrigued by this opportunity to learn more about the museum’s collection and share it with others, visit heardguild.org.

Arthur Holmes Jr. (Hopi), Reaching Out for Strength, Encouragement, carving.
Winner of Best of Show 2022.

$25,000 IF&M Best of Show Award

The Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market is pleased to announce that for the second year in a row, the 2023 Best of Show Award is $25,000, an increase of $10,000 over the 2021 amount. The guild wishes to express its sincere gratitude to Joy & Howard Berlin, the Head Family, Sharron Lewis, and Kristine & Leland W. Peterson for their very generous support of the Indian Fair & Market in co-sponsoring the $25,000 Best of Show Award.