On October 11 and 12, the Cherokee Art Market returned to Tulsa’s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino for the show’s 20th anniversary. The annual event brought out thousands of collectors from across the country to see more than 170 prominent Native American artists from tribes across North America.
Native American Art’s Mike Bright and co-publisher Wendie Martin with Troy Jackson, right, who won the Native American Art Editor’s Choice Award.
It was a spectacle of art inside the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, which added classy touches with large chandeliers, great lighting and 80-inch monitors spotlighting the show as collectors walked from one booth to the next. Tulsa is an important city known for its love of Native American and Western art, and the Cherokee Art Market is the pinnacle of the year’s gathering. Spirits were high all weekend from both the artists and the collectors.
Leith Mahkewa (Oneida FirstNation), Kaientho Kwen: Harvest Moccasins. Winner of Best of Class: Beadwork & Quillwork.
Holly Pyke’s Turtle Island was the cover of Native American Art magazine’s October/November issue and she sold it to a collector and a subscriber. “This was a great weekend and my booth lighting and placement couldn’t be better,” Pyke said during the opening of the market. She had received compliments about her cover image all weekend. “It’s been a very busy weekend for everyone.”
Native American Art was proud to be the official guide to the Cherokee Art Market for the first time, and was honored to have partnered with the event and its organizers.
3. Kristin Gentry (Choctaw), Biskinik (Woodpecker). Winner of the Jesse Hummingbird Legacy Award. 4. Ernest Benally (Navajo (Diné)), Beauty Around Us. Winner of Best of Class: Jewelry. 5. Visitors view art at Cherokee Art Market. 6. Chase Kahwinhut Earles (Caddo Nation of Oklahoma) with his piece Caddo Story of Night & Day, which won Best of Show. 7. Artwork on view during the Best of Show Reception. 8. Holly Pyke (Akwesasne Mohawk/Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe), Turtle Island. 9. A visitor admires two-dimensional art at the market.
Friday, during the Best of Show Award Reception, there was a festive energy as guests viewed the award-winning works gathered in one space before the show opened. Each of the pieces shown were hand-selected by a panel of judges. This year’s Best of Show was Chase Kahwinhut Earles, who won for his pottery Caddo Story of Night & Day. The Native American Art Editor’s Choice Award went to Troy Jackson for his metal and clay sculpture Assimilation and Acculturation. The piece had a compelling story, and its large size elevated the themes.
“This show is worth the trip from New Mexico. I have met many new collectors,” Marvin Gabaldon said from his booth.
Oklahoma artist Traci Rabbit noted, “It’s my favorite show. It’s local for me. The atmosphere is exceptional, and inside the Hard Rock Hotel is perfect. I am glad to be here for their 20th year. I remember when all this started and look at it now.”
The market will return October 10 and 11, 2026. —
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