Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market NEWS 2024

The Heard Museum in Phoenix.

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 who 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, far-away sites outside the Phoenix Valley. 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 www.heardguild.org.

Performers and guests take part in an opening ceremony at a past market.

Fair History

The Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market was first held in May 1959. As is 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 competitions. The museum is thrilled that the 2024 juried competitions will award more than $115,000 in prize money!

Family Fun Zone

For the first time, the 2024 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market will feature a Family Fun Zone, with games and fun activities for children. The Family Fun Zone will be adjacent to the Youth Art Show & Sale. Guests are invited to bring children to introduce them to amazing youth art and enjoy the Family Fun Zone. To make the Youth Art Show & Sale and Family Fun Zone accessible to everyone, the museum has a special Sunday offer: all children 12 years of age and under will be admitted free to the Indian Fair & Market on Sunday, March 3.

Museum Library Seeks Help from Native American Artists

The Native American Artists Resource Collection has been a cornerstone of the Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives for more than 40 years and contains files of more than a quarter million Native American artists. The physical and online collections are the largest of their kind anywhere, offering biographical 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 catalogs, interviews, resumes, correspondence and much more. The Heard Museum wants to gratefully acknowledge the generosity of its 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. The museum welcomes visitors to search this collection by visiting www.heard.org.

The Artists Resource Collection is continually expanding with new information and new names. Artists themselves are the best resource the museum has to remain both up-to-date and accurate. To ensure the continued growth and quality of this vital resource, the Heard asks artists and their galleries to include the library and archives on their distribution and mailing lists. In addition, the museum seeks resumes, photographs of artwork and copies of printed materials concerning artists and their work. Native American artists may download a questionnaire from the website.

Heard Museum front entrance. Photo courtesy Craig Smith.

Become a Heard Museum Guide

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 guests are excited by what they see at the museum, they should 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, volunteers 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 new late-fall through early-winter Las Guias training program is extremely flexible to accommodate the busy schedules of volunteers. Training includes classes taught by the curator—which are recorded to allow students to attend in person or watch at a more convenient time—and a variety of other flexible opportunities both in the museum and online 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, please visit www.heardguild.org or contact the coordinator, Jackie Stubbs, directly at jackiecstubbs@sbcglobal.net.