TULSA – The 18th annual Cherokee Art Market announced its top winners at a reception on Oct. 13 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. 

The juried market in October featured the work of more than 150 Native American artists representing more than 50 federally recognized tribes all competing for more than $75,000 in prize money.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. stated that placing funding into art through the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act has had a tremendous impact on Cherokee artisans.

“It has meant over $450,000 worth of direct art purchases from Cherokee artists,” Hoskin said. “That helps lift up artists at the time they need to be lifted up. It’s helped open up the avenues for access to art markets. It’s done something that I think is the most important thing the government of the Cherokee Nation can do for this community and that is to look to the generations that are coming up.” 

Hoskin said continued funding for the future generations of artists will give them the opportunity to explore their culture through creativity.

“What we need to talk about in the years ahead is not artist recovery, but artist resiliency,” Hoskin said. “The resiliency of our artists, the resiliency of our community, we can do that by continuing to invest in what you do. We can continue to do that by lifting up this art market year after year making it better and better.”

CN citizen and artist Demos Glass won of best of show for his piece titled “Two Realms.” He also took the best of class award in the sculpture category.

“Two Realms” is a 5-foot tall, fabricated steel sculpture of a Southeastern-style serpent, using powder-coated steel, stainless steel, ceramic and wood.

“This is one of the characters that was able to go from middle ground to upper ground,” Glass said. “So he’s somebody that had a little bit of a chance to be able transverse from one realm to the next. So that’s why I made him kind of exotic. It almost felt like he was space-ly.”

Glass said he grew up in the arts, learning from his father, Bill Glass Jr.

“The skillset in Native American artwork is just unbelievable. You really do have to get really good at executing your technical skills,” Glass said.

Taking a newer top honor for the Native American Art Magazine Editor’s Choice award was Pati Belgarde for her beadwork titled “Mona Lisa.”

Belgarde, a citizen of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa tribe of North Dakota, entered an embellished hat that paid homage to the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women movement. She said the piece took her seven months with 16-hour days to complete. 

“It’s always been a really big thing to me about the missing and murdered Indigenous women,” she said. “I cringe every time I see another one missing. I just had this dream of seeing her (Mona Lisa) as a Native woman with the eagle feather and then all of the background where women have been found along the rivers and the trees and forest. I just seen this as a vehicle to tell the story of what’s happening to our women.” 

Belgarde does Iroquois-style beadwork and this is her second time attending the Cherokee Art Market. She also won best of class in the beadwork/quillwork category.

For a complete list of winners, visit www.visitcherokeenation.org.

Top Awards

Best of Show – Demos Glass (Cherokee Nation), “Two Realms.”

Culture Keeper Award ­– Hollis Chitto (Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians/Pueblo of Laguna/Pueblo of Isleta), “Napakanli Um Okla Imma” (Flowers for My Family).

Innovator Award – Monica Silva Lovato (Santo Domingo Pueblo), “Hope for the Future.”

Anna Mitchell Award – Tama Roberts (Cherokee Nation), “Hopeful” & Troy Jackson, “Cherokee Rose.”

Jesse Hummingbird Award – Michael Toya (Pueblo of San Felipe), “Nature’s Medicine.”

Native American Art Magazine Editor’s Choice Award – Pati Belgarde (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota), “Mona Lisa.” 

Best of Class Winners

Painting, drawing, graphics and photography – Bryan Waytula (Cherokee Nation), “The Grass Dancer.”

Sculpture – Demos Glass (Cherokee Nation), “Two Realms.”

Beadwork/quillwork – Pati Belgarde (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota), “Mona Lisa.”

Basketry – Michael Dart (Cherokee Nation), “Wild Thang.”

Pottery – Troy Jackson (Cherokee Nation), “Cherokee Rose.”

Textiles – Alberta Henderson (Navajo Nation), “Majestic.”

Jewelry – Abraham Begay (Navajo Nation), “Squash Blossom Necklace.”

Diverse Art Forms – General B. Grant (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), “Today’s Medicine.”