Boasting free admission and an exhilarating interactive experience, Sovereign Santa Fe celebrates innovative new work by contemporary Native American artists from across the country. The three-day event, organized by FaraHNHeight Fine Art, fosters a community of forward-thinking artists including Nicholas Galanin, Zoë Urness, Jesse Raine Littlebird, Carly Treece, Craig George, Kylie ThunderHawk, Rico Worl, True Archdale, Micah Wesley, Derayna DeClay, Celeste Worl, Bobby HealingWolf and many more.
Bobby Stills (Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas) and Tasheena Littleben (Navajo (Diné)), custom hand-painted bike with woven seat
This year, Sovereign Santa Fe will be showcasing four independent fine art exhibits, guest curated by established artists and their fellow creatives. These four unique exhibitions—Sky Carriers/Tide Makers, Echoes of Thunder & Tide, Historia, and Keepers of the Land—will showcase the diverse geographical and cultural range of traditions, beliefs and expression in contemporary Indigenous art.
Craig George (Diné), Breathing Blanket, oil and mixed media on stretched canvas
“[Sky Carriers/Tide Makers]...brings together Lee William Burkhart III (Tlingit), Samuel Sheakley (Tlingit) and Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich (Koyukon Dene/Iñupiaq), whose works carry deep relationships to land, memory and material. Their practices move across carving, regalia and sculpture, asserting Indigenous presence not as a static tradition, but as a continuum of living knowledge and artistic responsibility,” says guest curator Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit/Unangax̂). “My curatorial approach centers on Indigenous ways of knowing and creating that cannot be easily categorized within colonial frameworks of ‘contemporary’ or ‘traditional.’ Instead, I see these artists as actively shaping and responding to the elemental forces that have always guided us—tide, sky, kinship and place. The title, Sky Carriers/Tide Makers, reflects that: the sky isn’t a metaphor, and the tide isn’t just water. They’re systems of orientation and relation.”
Randy Barton (Diné), New Mexico Abstract, mixed media on stretched canvas
Muscogee/Cherokee artist Carly Treece is curating this year’s Keepers of the Land exhibit. “We have over 23 artists participating, with 17 of them being Muscogee (Creek) artists, so there will be a strong Muscogee presence and influence throughout the show,” she says. “We’re honored to include artists like Bobby Martin, Johnnie Diacon and Dana Tiger, who are all well-known figures in Native art…We’re also featuring newer and emerging artists from Oklahoma, which I’m always excited about. It’s important to create space for those voices and support their growth alongside more established artists. My approach to curating is rooted in relationships, both with the land and with the artists. That connection is really important to me. I always try to include a mix of generations, bringing together emerging and established artists in a way that reflects community and continuity. I also try to represent a diverse range of mediums and styles. When community is the foundation, the work carries a heartbeat, something you feel as much as you see.”
Santiago River (Mescalero Apache), Flight Does the Spirit Right, mixed media on stretched canvas
Treece adds that they will also have limited signed copies of Joy Harjo’s new book Washing My Mother’s Body: A Ceremony for Grief, illustrated by Dana Tiger, and signed by both. In addition, Harjo will be in attendance on Saturday, August 16, from 1 to 2 p.m. for a signing of her 2009 book For a Girl Becoming. Tiger will be there for a meet-and-greet as well.
Sovereign Santa Fe takes place at La Fonda on the Plaza in the Lumpkins Ballroom and Mezzanine August 15 to 17, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. —
August 15-17, 2025
Sovereign Santa Fe
La Fonda on the Plaza 100 E. San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501, www.farahnheight.com
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