Those are just a few of the items that will be available for purchase at Madison’s first Native Art Market this weekend. The market, at the Arts + Literature Laboratory, 111 S. Livingston St., provides a space for 15 Indigenous artists from various tribes across Wisconsin to showcase their work.

A preview of the market took place Friday as part of “Gallery Night,” but the full market runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 

“This is something that I’ve always really been interested in supporting and creating for the community here in Madison,” said Dakota Mace, a local Diné artist and curator of the Native Art Market.

Mace, who comes from a family of artists, has seen the power that art holds throughout her life. 

“It was always a source of income for my family,” Mace said. “Our artistic expression is directly connected to not only our family traditions and our culture and our language, but it’s also part of the future in terms of maintaining those cultural traditions.”

Mace often attended art markets when she was younger. As she got older, Mace noticed that the markets had barriers to entry, such as vendor fees, and felt that media coverage didn’t include Native voices. So for the Native Art Market, Mace wanted to make the market not just accessible but also centered around the artists’ identities and cultural backgrounds. 

Along with not charging an application or vendor fee, all the featured artists received a stipend and help with lodging, if needed.

“We really just want to focus on supporting our artists and being in the community,” said Paige Skenandore, a local Oneida artist, who worked with Mace to organize the market. “Artists are coming from all throughout Wisconsin.”

Besides making the market accessible, another motivation of Mace was prioritizing the needs of Indigenous artists following allegations in January that a Madison artist, Kathryn “Kay” Le Claire, had pretended to be Native American, benefitting professionally and financially.

“Unfortunately, what had happened was that the conversation that was created was more focused on singling out Indigenous representatives throughout our community and having them speak for the entirety of our people,” Mace said. “I wanted this market to re-center the narrative of supporting Indigenous artists.”

Meet the artists 

Skenandore, who owns the small business Moody NDN, will be selling a mix of beadwork, quillwork and apparel at the market. Skenandore, who didn’t consider herself an artist until later in life, often hosts beading circles at her home. 

“I think beadwork, or just Indigenous art in general, is really connected to my Native identity because it’s one way we stay in our communities, and it’s also really beautiful,” Skenandore said. “I just love the network that I’ve found in Madison Native artists.” 

Melanie Sainz, a Ho-Chunk artist based in the Wisconsin Dells, specializes in the use of porcupine quills in portrait, floral and geometric objects. Since retiring and founding the nonprofit Little Eagle Arts Foundation, which provides entrepreneurial support for Indigenous artists, Sainz doesn’t participate in art markets as often as she used to. But she didn’t want to miss this one.

“I really wanted to be there as an elder to support this effort in whatever way I can,” Sainz said. 

Along with showcasing her work, Sainz will be leading a quillwork workshop on Saturday. 

“We’re not just showing art, we’re engaging with the public and we’re really sharing our stories, whether it’s the historic trauma that our people have endured or personal experiences,” Sainz said. “I often thank the people who adopt my pieces. They’re giving them a new home.”

Practicing respect

For local artists, exposure is often everything, making this weekend all the more important. Organizers ask that those attending the market refrain from touching the artwork and sharing pictures on social media. When in doubt, they said, ask the artist.

“We’re seeing a lot of non-Native artists or businesses that are stealing Indigenous designs and even language to boost their profits or make money on them,”  Skenandore said. “So I think it’s really important to just talk to the artists and really connect.” 

In addition to this weekend’s market, Mace and the Arts + Literature Laboratory hope to host similar events, including an exhibition and a second Native Art Market in October.

“It’s really exciting to see all these different types of artists explore their own stories, whether that’s their family histories or their culture and language,” Mace said. “It’s all about creating this idea of a new way of appreciating Indigenous art from an Indigenous perspective and really independent from that Western gaze.”