ART MECCA IN SOUTH WEST
ART MECCA IN SOUTH WEST

Summary/Abstract: Santa Fe — “ The City Different” is the marketing slogan for this art Mecca in South West of the United States. A small city with a population of less than 100,000 people, it is the third art market in USA after the cities such as New York and Los Angeles. Every day I either walk by a gallery, public art space, museum (nine museums) or an artist selling his or her art on the streets. The most common street artists are Native Americans who come daily from the pueblos to sell their jewelry to the local and tourists. Customers take home a lot of cheap and fake turquoise, but one thing that visitors may not recognize is that souvenir purchase gave them a chance to interact with the Native Americans — the Navajo or other tribes. It is a very rare opportunity, to have a direct interaction with people who are carriers of tradition that is not part of the mainstream.

• Details
• Contents