OKC's Red Earth Festival shifts to spring break: What to know about the Native arts event

After nearly four decades of showcasing Native American art, dance and culture, Oklahoma City's Red Earth Festival is settling in at its new home but shifting to a different page on the calendar.

One of the largest Native American cultural celebrations and art markets in the country, the 38th Annual Red Earth Festival is moving from its traditional summer dates to a spring break time frame. The event is scheduled for March 22-24 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.

"This way, we were able to have our three-day event back, which a lot of the artists were really excited about. So, we were happy to be able to do that," said Red Earth Executive Director Chelsey Curry, who is Chilkat Tlingit.

"Partnering with The Cowboy this year, they're doing so many kids' activities, because it's spring break, so it makes it really fun for families. ... Then, we have different dance showcases and different lectures and artist talks. ... So, there's always going to be something new for people to experience, even if they come each day."

How is the Red Earth Festival partnering with the National Cowboy Museum this year?

For the third year, the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is hosting the Red Earth Festival.

"We really like being at the museum because they have an indoor space for the art market ... and they've just worked really well with us (for festivalgoers) to be able to have access to the entire museum. So, not only can people come every day and truly spend all day just doing Red Earth, they have access to the whole museum," Curry said, adding that the museum keeps Native American art and items on view, along with showcasing cowboy culture.

For the better part of three decades, the Red Earth Festival took place at the Cox Convention Center in downtown OKC. With the opening of the Oklahoma City Convention Center in early 2021, the Cox Convention Center was closed in 2020 and converted to Prairie Surf Studios, a film and television production hub.

For two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival was organized at the Citizen Potawatomi Nation-owned Grand Casino Hotel & Resort in Shawnee, but the move to the National Cowboy Museum brought Red Earth back to OKC. (The popular Red Earth Parade shifted in 2021 to the Red Earth FallFest, an Indigenous Peoples Day celebration every October in downtown OKC.)

“We’re honored to be continuing this partnership with Red Earth as host for a third year. With the festival’s move to spring break this year, it’s going to be a special week full of activities and events here at The Cowboy," said Seth Spillman, the museum's chief marketing officer, in an email.

What types of Native American artwork will be offered at this year's Red Earth Festival?

During the March 22-24 festival, the Red Earth juried art market will be set up in the National Cowboy Museum's Sam Noble Events Center. The market will showcase original creations by some of the country's most acclaimed Native American artisans.

The market artists work in a wide range of media, styles and techniques, and festivalgoers can expect to find for sale contemporary and traditional paintings, beadwork, basketry, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, culture attire and more.

"We have 70 artists that are going to be there ... and we have people from all over the nation, all the way up to Canada. So, we've got a big range of artists, and they come from all over to be part of this," Curry said.

"And we don't have only the Oklahoma tribes. ... We have over 20 different tribes that are represented, and that's including First Nations, Alaska Natives and even one from Mexico."

Some of the acclaimed artists who are participating in this year's Red Earth Art Market include Mary Aitson, a Cherokee basket maker; Yonavea Hawkins, a Caddo beadwork artist; Tim Nevaquaya, a Comanche painter; Daniel Worcester, a Chickasaw bladesmith; Karin Walkingstick, a Cherokee potter; Gordon Yellowman, a Cheyenne and Arapaho painter; and Linda Kukuk, a Choctaw scratchwork artist.

Oklahoma artist Brent Greenwood, who is Chickasaw and Ponca, will be recognized during the 38th annual festival as the 2024 Red Earth Honored One. Since its inception in 1987, Red Earth has selected a master artist whose support of Native art has been substantial throughout his or her life for this yearly recognition.

A dynamic influence in the Native art community for more than two decades, Greenwood works as the fine arts director for the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. His paintings, which fuse Oklahoma Native art traditions with contemporary art and graffiti stylings, have been shown across North America and internationally, including in Paris, France.

Debra S. Keazer, a Cherokee pine needle artist from Wichita, Kansas, has been named the winner of the 2024 Red Earth Emerging Artist Award. Established in 2018, the emerging artist prize provides funding to promising Native artists, allowing them to participate in OKC’s award-winning Red Earth Festival.

What cultural activities will be offered at the 2024 Red Earth Festival?

A staple of the Red Earth Festival, multiple Native dance showcases will be offered each day during the event outside on the museum's Western States Plaza. The Central Plains Dance Troupe, Metro Caddo Cultural Club and Red Earth FallFest Youth Powwow Competition Dancers will be among the groups participating in the dance showcases.

Flute presentations with Terry Tsotigh and Tone Gyah Dae also are planned on the outdoor plaza.

One of the festival's opening events at 10 a.m. March 22 will be a storytelling session with the Chickasaw Nation, which will be offered at the re-created Chickasaw Council House in Liichokoshkomo’, the museum's outdoor interactive educational area.

Inside the museum's Burk Burnett Room, Red Earth activities will include artist talks and screenings of the Chickasaw Nation documentaries "Bearer of the Morning," about acclaimed storyteller Te Ata, and "Montford Johnson: An Original Brand," about the respected cattleman.

Domingo Whiteman, who is Cheyenne, also will give regalia presentations in the space during the festival.

"He starts without the regalia on, and then he'll explain each piece and put it on as he goes," Curry said. "It's something that people think looks really cool, but (they) don't necessarily understand it. So, we're just really excited for that opportunity to educate."

In conjunction with the National Cowboy Museum's special exhibition "Lighting Pathways: Matriarchs of Oklahoma Native Art," spotlighting works by seven living Oklahoman Native women artists who proved influential in the late 20th century, Red Earth will present a panel discussion featuring co-curator America Meredith at 12:30 p.m. March 22 in the Burk Burnett Room.

A curator's talk with Meredith also is planned in the space for 12:30 p.m. March 24.

"Lighting Pathways" includes works by Sharron Ahtone Harjo, who is Kiowa; Mary Adair and Jane Osti, who are both Cherokee; Adeline Chaddlesone, Kootenai; Ruthe Blalock Jones, Shawnee/Delaware/Peoria; Brenda Kennedy, Citizen Potawatomi; and Virginia Stroud, Keetoowah Cherokee/Muscogee.

"Oklahoma is the heart of Native America ... and they've had an impact on the Native American art movement, honestly, across the country," said Eric Singleton, the National Cowboy Museum's curator of ethnology. "It was really just important to put these artists in a place where people could see their work again ... and it's a good tie-in to our partnership with Red Earth."

How much are tickets to the Red Earth Festival?

The Red Earth Festival will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 22-24 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63.

Tickets are $15 per person per day and include admission to the entire National Cowboy Museum. Three-day passes are available for $30 per person.

Children 6 and younger are admitted for free with a paid adult.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://redearth.org/pages/upcoming-festival or in-person at the museum during the festival.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's Red Earth Fest moves to spring break to showcase Native culture