Portal Artisans Celebration An Annual Palace Courtyard Event

Take a break during the SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market to enjoy the Palace Portal Artisans’ Celebration in the shady Palace Courtyard. From 10 am—5 pm, Aug. 18—19, members of the History Museum’s Native American Artisans Program will offer music, hand-crafted art, raffles, a Native specialties food booth, Sno-Cones, pickles, and traditional Indian dances.

Enter the courtyard through the Blue Gate just south of the New Mexico History Museum’s main entrance at 113 Lincoln Ave.

The internationally renowned Native American Artisans Program operates exclusively on the Palace of the Governors Portal, where members display and sell their handmade arts and crafts. Artisans qualify for participation by demonstrating their ability to create authentic pottery, sandpainting, silverwork, lapidary, and weaving using traditional methods.

The artisans are under the portal nearly every day. To make room for Indian Market, they move into the Palace Courtyard and turn it into a party, Native American-style. Check out the music and dance, then extend your stay (in air-conditioned comfort!) by exploring the museum’s exhibits. Through Nov. 4, the museum feature a special exhibit, Native American Portrait: Points of Inquiry, featuring rare, original prints from the 1850s forward that demonstrate a nation’s changing attitudes toward Native peoples. Also at the museum is SWAIA’s Native Cinema Showcase, Aug. 13-19, with free daily showings of feature films, documentaries and shorts.