Artesian Arts Festival set for May 28

A Celebration of Native Art at 3rd annual Artesian Arts Festival
 
SULPHUR, Okla. – Native art and artists will be featured and celebrated at the Artesian Arts Festival, Saturday, May 28.
For the third year, the Chickasaw Nation is hosting the Memorial Day weekend arts festival at the Artesian Plaza. Festivities begin at 10 a.m. and end at 8 p.m.

A community celebration of all forms of art, Native American artists and art are the main focus of the festival. 
The event features diverse art media and a variety of visual art such as paintings, basketry, jewelry, sculpture, metalworking, bead work, textiles and pottery.

Open to artists from all federally recognized tribes, 90 Native artists will compete in as many as 21 categories.
Cash awards will be presented for first, second and third place in each category, as well as “Best of Show.”

Esteemed artists representing 10 states and a wide variety of Native American tribes will be participating in the Artesian Arts Festival. Artists scheduled to participate include Chickasaw textile artists Margaret Roach Wheeler and Maya Stewart, renowned Cherokee potter Jane Osti, award-winning Chickasaw bladesmith Daniel Worcester, Tim Tate Nevaquaya, and many more.
Dozens of booths lining Muskogee Street in Sulphur will display works of the artists. Artists will also be demonstrating, sharing and discussing their craft in the ARTesian Art Gallery throughout the day, beginning at 10 a.m. with a live paint by Chickasaw artist Mike Larsen. Other artists presenting artist talks includes: Tracie Davis, Wayne Edgar, Sue Fish, Matthew Girty, Jimmie Harrison, Kevin Mathey, Vicki Somers, Tim Nevaquaya, Tony Tiger, Daniel Worcester, Jeremy Wallace and Ellen Etzler.

The daylong festival will also highlight a variety of musical entertainment, tribal dance demonstrations and regalia. Bands will provide continuous entertainment on two stages. The musical line-up for the event includes a range of entertainment, including children’s music, alternative rock, pop, Latin pop, country and more.
Included in the lineup on the main stage are: Zac Garcia, “Highwater Gamble,” “Overdrive,” “Injunuity,” “Darryl Tonemah,” “John Bomboy and the Underscores,” and children’s entertainers “Sugar Free Allstars.”
Band’s scheduled for the Plaza stage include: “Tequila Azul,” Brooke Potter, Nathan Burris, Tim Nevaquaya, “The Hideouts,” “The Suede Panthers,” and “Right Place, Right Time.”
Four Native American Dance troupes including the Chickasaw Nation Stomp Dancers, Native American Hoop Dance, the Pueblo Enchantment Dancers and Magic Circle Entertainment are also scheduled to demonstrate and share native dances.

More than a dozen food trucks and food booths will be serving festival fare such as roasted corn, kettle corn, Indian Tacos, barbecue, funnel cakes, ice cream and more.
A special area for children’s activities and a senior citizens’ arts and crafts booth are also planned for the day.

Open to the public at no charge, the Artesian Arts Festival welcomed more than 4,500 to last year’s festival.

For more information about the Artesian Arts Festival, contact the Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts & Humanities at (580) 272-5520, by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Artesian Plaza is located adjacent to the Artesian Hotel and Spa, 1001 W. First Street.

 
Artesian Arts Festival Artists 2016
Chickasaw artists

Kelley Lunsford

Jeremy Wallace

Ashley Wallace

Chance Brown

Tracie Davis

Steve Adamietz

Maya Stewart

Howard Thompson

Brenda Kingery

Daniel Worcester

Paula Loftin

Margaret Roach Wheeler

Mary Ruth Barnes

Gina Frazier

Trey Sparlin

Jack Pettigrew

Wendel Pettigrew

Charles Kemp

Tyra Shackleford

Randy Shackleford

Brent Greenwood

Misti Butler

Dustin Mater

Rena Smith

Courtney Parchcorn

Kevin Mathey

Melvin Burris

Brad Tate

Vicki Somers

Linda Edgar

Regina Free

Wayne Edgar

L. Wayne Edgar

Sue Fish

Heather Richardson

Ben White

Jim Trosper

Lisa Hudson

Ellen Etzler

Margaret Dillard

Richard Thomas

Joanna Underwood-Blackburn

 
Cherokee artists

Ryan Lee Smith

Troy Jackson

Mary Beth Timothy

Jane Osti

Mike Dart

Kristie Vann

Karin Walkingstick

Jerry Sutton

J. Ross Davis

Verna Bates

Tana Washington

Toneh Chuleewah

Matthew Girty

Dino Kingfisher

Dana Talbert

Buddy Parchcorn

 
Choctaw artists

Candace Shanholtzer

Dylan Cavin

Ted Lawrence

Patta LT

Clifford Wilson

Chris Sanner

Brenda Bell

Floyd Gene Smith

 
Muscogee Creek

Sandy Fife-Wilson

Jimmie Fife

John Timothy

Les Berryhill

Jon Tiger

Micah Wesley

Don Haley

 
Caddo

Yonavea Hawkins

Chad Earles

Wayne Earles

Chase Earles

 
Otoe-Missouria

Tom Farris

Lester Harragarra

Rhonda Williams

 
Other tribes

Tony Tiger – Sac & Fox

Larry DesJarlais – Turtle Mountain Chippewa

LuAnne Aragon - Laguna Pueblo

Anita Fields - Osage

Jimmie Harrison - Dine          

Rita Heath – Comanche

Tim Nevaquaya - Comanche

Benjamin Harjo – Absentee-Shawnee

Mitch Battese – Prairie Potawatomi

Cynthia Yerby - Seminole