First Annual Art Market Showcases Local Artists

Sept. 1, 2011

From August 19th to 21st, Hunkpati Investments hosted its first annual Art Market at the Crow Creek Pow-wow. Nine artists from Crow Creek and Lower Brule gathered together to sell their goods just outside the pow-wow grounds. The goods on display included star quilts, beaded jewelry, handmade leather purses, fine art prints and originals, and hand-carved walking sticks.

“The art market went great. It was such a neat feeling seeing everyone looking at my art and selling it directly to my community,” said Gene Koster (pictured below), owner and operator of Kosters’ Wood Krafts.

The Art Market was established to support local artists, whether they are experienced vendors or hobbyists trying to sell their goods for the first time. Hunkpati Investments staff worked to take the guesswork and uncertainty out of selling by securing a place to for artists to set up their booths, providing advice on how to display and price artwork, and helping with advertising.

Meanwhile, the Art Market increased the number of local Lakota and Dakota vendors at the Crow Creek Pow-wow and raised the visibility of our artisan community. Commonly, the booths at pow-wows are filled with mass-produced goods sold by bigger businesses, with only a handful local artists selling authentic handicrafts. This year, our pow-wow boasted not just a mountain of locally made crafts, but fresh-brewed specialty coffees sold by Pop’s Coffee Shop, another local business supported by Hunkpati Investments.

Along with the rest of our community, we are immensely proud of the talent and hard work displayed by all the artists and entrepreneurs in and around Crow Creek, and hope that next year’s Art Market will be even bigger and better.

Hunkpati Investments is a non-profit organization formed in 2009 in order "to provide financial opportunities to stimulate economic development on the Crow Creek Sioux Indian Reservation, promoting self-sufficiency, self-determination and an enhanced quality of life for the reservation community." For more information about some of the talented artists working on Crow Creek or on our programs, please call our office at (605) 245-2148.