Angelo Joaquin, Jr.
Southwest Indian Art Fair Coordinator
Bringing People Together
November 2007
Angelo Joaquin, Jr., cultural liaison and co-founder of the Tucson Waila Festival, is now the coordinator of Arizona State Museum’s signature event, the Southwest Indian Art Fair (SWIAF - scheduled for February 23 and 24, 2008).
In its 14th year, Arizona State Museum’s Southwest Indian Art Fair brings 200 major artists from around the region to show and sell their wares on the campus of the University of Arizona. The artists come from around the Southwest. The buyers come from all over the country. Serious collectors, long-time enthusiasts, and first-time shoppers all enjoy meeting the artists and hearing stories about the hand-made objects. Conversely, artists learn about their patrons, many of whom have been buying from them year after year at this event.
“All cultural events have the same purpose—to bring people together for cross cultural education,” says Joaquin. “We want people to walk away enriched by the barriers that are broken down by art, music, and food. I’m struck by the number of comments the museum receives each year citing how the fair’s intimacy—its ability to create and maintain cherished relationships—surpasses that of any other comparable event in the region.”
Born to the Coyote Clan of the Tohono O'odham Nation, Joaquin grew up on what is now a 44-acre O'odham reservation near Florence, Arizona. He is past executive director of Native Seeds/SEARCH and a former acting director of his tribe’s water resources department. A two-term board member for the international North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance, he served a year as its president.
Joaquin is currently pursuing a degree in ethnomusicology at the University of Arizona. Beginning in 1980, he presented his father's band, The Joaquin Brothers, at numerous venues including the National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap; the World of Music, Art and Dance Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and Carnegie Hall. He recently produced a two CD set of the Brothers’ performances recorded over the past 30 years. His future research plans include documenting the waila tradition and its musicians.
No stranger to the visual arts, Joaquin has worked over the years as exhibition consultant for Arizona State Museum, the Arizona Historical Society, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Library of Congress, and the National Museum of the American Indian.
Both Joaquin and Arizona State Museum look forward to moving the Southwest Indian Art Fair to a new expansion facility at Rio Nuevo in 2011. “I am excited to be a part of the transition team for the Southwest Indian Art Fair and the many other great ASM programs. Managing the challenges of growth and financial viability without losing the intimacy factor is, I believe, key to the continued success of the Southwest Indian Art Fair.”
Listen to an interview with Angelo Joaquin, Jr.
, on SouthwestBlend.com (at the bottom of the page).
Photo of Angelo Joaquin, Jr. by Jannelle Weakley.
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