Every year the Heard Museum Shop invites noted American Indian artists and art dealers to exhibit in the gallery. This year, the shop is excited to have a diverse group of accomplished artists who will be on hand through the entire Fair to talk with visitors and sell their work.
Featured Shop Artists and Dealers
Jon DeCelles (Gros Ventre), Sculptor
As a boy, DeCelles grew up on various reservations in South Dakota, Oregon and Montana. He began his studies at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe where he studied two dimensional design. After deciding painting was not his forte, he discovered sculpture going on to receive an associate’s degree in three dimensional design in 1985. As a member of the Indigenous Sculptors Society, he promotes the art and practice of Native American stone carving. He is known for his sculptures that capture fluidity and motion, taking special interest in carving out many of the designs so that light will permeate the piece and give it an “inner light.”
Raymond Nordwall (Pawnee/Ojibwe), Painter
Nordwall began his painting studies under noted artist, Johnny Tiger Junior. He attended the American Indian Arts Institute in Santa Fe and would go on to work under Frank Howell. He currently lives in Santa Fe where the Nordwall Gallery & Studio is located.
Denise and Dawn Wallace (Aleut), Jewelers
Denise Wallace (Aleut) was born in 1957 in Seattle Washington. She and her husband Samuel moved to Santa Fe in 1977 so Denise could attend the Institute of American Indian Art. They opened a studio together where they made work based on the imagery and legends of Denise’s Aleut heritage until her husband’s death in 2010.
Dawn Wallace was born in Santa Fe and spent her formative years in her parent’s gallery. She started crafting jewelry herself at the age of 12 and exhibiting in local Indian Fairs just two years later. Dawn’s craft has since evolved to reflect her time living in Hawaii with her family. Her work is a combination of her own heritage and architectural elements of New York where she received an associate’s degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Terry Dewald
Terry Dewald is the author of the Papago Indians and Their Basketry. As a member of the Antique Tribal Art Dealers Associated (ATADA), he has extensively studied and lectured about historic Southwest and California basketry as well as contemporary Tohono O’odham and Apache basketry.
Mike Bird Romero (San Juan/Taos), Silversmith
Born on San Juan Pueblo in New Mexico, Mike-Bird comes from a long line of artists. His mother was known for textile art and his grandmother, Luteria Atencio, was a respected potter with art collected by the Smithsonian. He is primarily a self-taught jeweler and silversmith and has been making jewelry since 1972. He is well known for his traditional and contemporary gold and silver jewelry, beadwork and has experimented with sculpture.
Nancy Youngblood (Santa Clara), Potter
Nancy Youngblood (native name Yellow Aspen) was born in 1955. She was introduced to pottery by her mother and grandmother, the famed Margaret Tafoya. She started competing in 1972 at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, winning second place. After briefly attending San Francisco Art Institute, she returned to Santa Clara and continued to show her work at the Santa Fe Indian Market. In 1976, at 21, she had her first major exhibition at Gallery 10 in Scottsdale. She is well known for her S-shaped melon jars and the innovative way she explores her craft while maintaining the Santa Clara traditional form.