The Arizona State Museum's Southwest Indian
Art Fair (SWIAF) offers recognition and awards to artists whose work is judged to
be of exceptional merit. The goals of the jury process are to support excellence
in the arts and to offer all participating artists opportunity for recognition by
leading professional figures.
This year an invited panel of expert jurors selected artists for 32 awards of
excellence. Jurors were selected by a committee composed of ASM /SWIAF staff. As
with past fairs, the 2004 SWIAF jury was composed of established working Native
American artists and a non-native arts professional. These jurors reflect a cross
section of cultural perspectives and artistic disciplines. Purchase Awards were
chosen by ASM Collections staff.
Shonto Begay, Navajo painter. Begay's background
includes a degree in Fine Art Painting and close to four decades of award winning
painting experience. He has been recognized nationally for his distinctive narrative
vision and is one of Arizona's leading Native American painter's.
Ramson Lomatewama, Hopi carver, glass-artist
and published poet is highly regarded for his attention to old-style carving practices
in the Katsina doll tradition. He is a ground-breaking artist executing innovative
work in several non-traditional mediums and recognized for his articulate voice
as a teacher.
Jennifer Vigil, Visiting Professor of Art History
at the University of Arizona. She specializes in Native American art with research
focus on contemporary Native American art. She is a board member for the Native
American Art Studies Association.
Marco Basurto, Yaqui sculptor. His expertise
in judging creative developments among the youth entries is based on years of experience
of working with Native children. He is currently working as a 3-D art instructor
with the Tucson Unified School District
Sherrie Dorr, painter and children's art instructor
in 2-dimensional art with Tucson Unified School District. Dorr has years of experience
working with native children both on and off the reservation.
Hartman Lomawaima, Arizona State Museum Director,
Hopi, selected the winner of the Museum Director's Award. Lomawaima was responsible
for initiating this new award for the 2003 competition. His experience as an artisan
includes traditional Katsina doll carving and silver-smithing.
Suzanne Griset, Head of Collections at ASM,
combines knowledge of Collections needs with expertise in many crafts to help select
this year's Purchase Awards. Assisting in the task of selecting work of exceptional
merit for ASM Collections was Diane Dittemore.
Dittemore is a curator of ethnographic materials for ASM and has extensive knowledge
of ASM's broad contemporary and historic collections.
Arizona State Museum offers thanks to the 2004 SWIAF Jury for their commitment
to sustain the high standards SWIAF has developed over its 10 year history. This
event also would not have been possible without the high quality of work offered
for review by our participating artists (totaling more than twice the number of
entries from previous years). SWIAF offers the highest value in cash awards in the
region. This is made possible through the dedicated support of many community and
business sponsors. Our congratulations to all the winning artists and to all submitting
artists for making this competition a challenging and meaningful event. |
