Institute of American Indian Arts

Institute of American Indian Arts
Address
83 Avan Nu Po Road Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87508 United States
Coordinates	35.587°N 106.010°W / 35.587; -106.010
Information
School type	4-year tribal college
Established	1962
School number	350
President	Dr. Robert Martin
Grades	Freshman-Senior
Enrollment	350
Language	English language, Navajo language
Color(s)	Silver & Turquoise
Mascot	Thunderbird
Team name	Thunderbirds (basketball)
Affiliation	AIHEC
Website	http://www.iaia.edu
Federal Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location:	Cathedral Pl. at Palace St., Santa Fe, New Mexico
Coordinates:	35°41′13″N 105°56′11″W
Area:	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built:	1920
Architectural style:	Pueblo
Governing body:	Federal
NRHP Reference#:	74001207
Added to NRHP:	August 15, 1974

The Institute of American Indian Arts is a college focused on Native American art, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Many IAIA graduates transition into full-time careers as self-supporting artists, while others continue their education at universities and art schools nationwide.

History

The Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development was a collaborative vision by an artist and Arizona-based real estate developer Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee) and Dr. George Boyce. IAIA is congressionally chartered and was created by an executive order of former American President John F. Kennedy in 1962. In 1986, IAIA was granted non-profit, congressionally chartered status. The IAIA board of trustees were appointed by the President of the United States. In 1992 the IAIA Museum, which houses more than 7,000 piece National Collection of Contemporary Indian Art, opened in downtown Santa Fe. The college offered its first bachelor's degrees in 2001, and in 2006 graduated 43 students.

Mission and vision

IAIA’s mission is

• to attract a multi-tribal student body whose creative abilities are at the forefront of contemporary American Indian art
• to educate and train a new generation of Native artists.

Programs

IAIA is a fully accredited college granting four-year bachelor’s degrees and two-year associate’s degrees in:

• museum studies,
• creative writing,
• visual communications,
• indigenous liberal studies,
• studio art, and
• new media art.

Museum of Contemporary Native Arts

In 1991, The Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, now called the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, was founded by the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, as the only museum to focus on contemporary intertribal Native American art. IAIA operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, which is housed in the historic Santa Fe Federal Building (the old Post Office), a landmark Pueblo Revival building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The museum, which showcases work by Native artists, features the Allan Houser Sculpture Garden. The museum houses the 7,000+ piece National Collection of Contemporary Indian Art.

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  Performance art piece by Rulan Tangen at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art (2010)

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  Performance by Wayne Gaussoin at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art

Partnerships

IAIA is a member of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), which is a community of tribally- and federally-chartered institutions working to strengthen tribal nations and make a lasting difference in the lives of American Indians and Alaska Natives. IAIA was created in response to the higher education needs of American Indians. IAIA generally serves geographically isolated populations that have no other means accessing education beyond the high school level.

Notable faculty

• Louis W. Ballard, Quapaw-Cherokee composer
• Gregory Cajete, Santa Clara Pueblo ethnobiologist and author
• Allan Houser, Chiricahua sculptor
• Charles Loloma, Hopi jeweler
• Linda Lomahaftewa, Hopi-Choctaw printmaker
• Fritz Scholder, Luiseño painter
• Arthur Sze, Chinese-American poet
• Charlene Teters, Spokane painter and installation artist
• Elizabeth Woody, Navajo-Tenino (Warm Springs)-Wasco-Yakama artist and author
• Melanie Yazzie, Navajo printmaker
• William S. Yellow Robe, Jr., Assiniboine writer

Notable alumni

• Marcus Amerman, Choctaw bead artist
• Sherwin Bitsui, Navajo poet
• T.C. Cannon, Kiowa-Caddo-Choctaw painter
• Eddie Chuculate, Muscogee (Creek)-Cherokee author and journalist
• Kelly Church, Odawa-Ojibwe basketweaver
• Bunky Echo–Hawk, Yakama-Pawnee painter
• Benjamin Harjo, Jr., Shawnee-Seminole painter and printmaker
• Joy Harjo, Muscogee Creek-Cherokee poet and jazz musician
• Allison Hedge Coke, Huron-Muscogee-Cherokee author
• Kevin Locke, Lakota-Anishinabe hoop dancer
• Gerald McMaster, Plains Cree-Siksika First Nation author, artist, and curator
• America Meredith, Swedish-Cherokee painter, printmaker, and curator
• Dan Namingha, Tewa-Hopi painter and sculptor
• Jody Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo potter
• Kevin Red Star, Crow painter
• James Thomas Stevens, Akwesasne Mohawk poet
• Roxanne Swentzell, Santa Clara Pueblo ceramicist and sculptor
• Charlene Teters, Spokane painter and installation artist
• Randy'L He-dow Teton, Shoshone-Bannock model for Sacajawea Gold Dollar coin
• Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie, Seminole-Muscogee-Diné photographer, writer, curator, and educator
• Marie Watt, Seneca printmaker and conceptual artist

Notable staff

• Joseph Sanchez, curator and artist, one of the Indian Group of Seven

External links

• Institute of American Indian Arts, college
• Museum of Contemporary Native Arts