Santa Fe -- A New Museum For Native American Art

SANTA FE, N.M. - Sit by the firepit. Listen to the drums and the voices that surround you in the empty room.

The busy plaza of Santa Fe outside fades from mind, and the rhythms of Native American ceremony in this entrance room prepare you for the galleries of Santa Fe's newest museum: The Institute of American Indian Arts Museum.

In an adobe building at 108 Cathedral Place, formerly home to New Mexico branches of the CIA, the IRS and a post office, the museum opened last June to showcase contemporary Indian art.

It's unique in the art world.

Chartered in 1962, the IAIA is the only institution of higher education dedicated solely to the traditions of Native Americans.

Born after a century of government denial of the value of the arts in Indian education, the IAIA established art as a way for Indians to express what it means to be an Indian in the 20th century.

"Creativity is our tradition," is the theme of the IAIA Museum's permanent exhibition. Signs in the galleries note that Indian art always has been contemporary to each generation; relevant to the world view of the times. As Indian society has changed, so too has the art that reflects that society.

In times gone by, Indian artisans created functional pieces; clothing and ceremonial regalia which were incorporated into life in meaningful ways.

The museum honors contemporary Indian artists, many of whom translate traditional symbols into semi-abstract paintings and sculpture. These too have a function, and a vital one: they keep the culture alive through arts.

From Nez Perce artist Doug Hyde's "Sun & Moon Gods" - a torso pounded full of nails - to Delmar Boni's painting of five Indians wearing eagle feathers and sunglasses, and dreaming of a giant ice cream cone, the art in the IAIA Museum is visual testimony to a culture in search of its identity.

Artists' statements alongside their work contain several variations on the theme of, "In my art, I didn't know where I was coming from in terms of my Indianess."

Old meets new here. The IAIA taught a generation of young Native American artists to appreciate and respect art produced by their ancestors with primitive tools and methods.

At the same time, it introduced them to an array of new tools and methods, such as blown glass and video, challenging them to express ancient world views and patterns of belief in dramatic new ways. Most of the new art forms are still too new to have made it into the museum collection, but that could come at any time.

The museum is compact; easy to take in over an hour or two, depending on how long you like to linger in the company of special pieces.

One section of the museum is devoted to the work of "Early Innovators of Indian Art," who helped create the contemporary Indian arts movement. One of them, the late Aleut artist John Hoover, is familiar to Seattle art lovers from his many gallery shows here. Hoover is represented with a carved and painted panel, titled "Devil Fish Woman."

The museum gift shop, devoted exclusively to original artworks, is pricey. A better bet for those on a modest budget is the book store, which sells posters, T-shirts, calendars, and books such as the excellent "Indian Givers" by Jack Weatherford, (Fawcett Columbine, $9) describing how American Indian culture transformed the world.

The outdoor sculpture garden holds what appears to be just the bare beginning of an impressive sculpture collection.

Admission is $3.50. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, until 8 p.m. Wednesday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

A performance gallery houses videos, lectures and special events. For more information, call the IAIA Museum at 1-505-988-6211.

All that's needed to complete the place is a cafe serving contemporary twists on traditional Indian food. It could be one of the hottest places in town.