A sneak peek at Folk Art Market

although this is a lovely thought to give folk artists from other countries an opportunity to show and sell work it is a little self serving for the museum to ignore the plight of the local artists and the downturn of the santa fe art market. Not only do these shows take money from local artists - the city looses taxes that would have gone into the ailing local economy. In this economic downturn we need to look closer to home - and take care of our own. The art market used to be a driving force in santa fe. The overabundance of of museums - who do not pay taxes has hurt the local economy and art market. Let us look inward - honor those artists who honor santa fe and give back local artists their due.

sanafepea has it right. All the museum and media hype makes it seem like this market is about individual artists, but it is actually mostly about dealers who sponsor the artists and/or front their products and then take the biggest piece of the pie.

Please turn out beautiful people of Santa Fe to support our brother and sister artist from around the Globe who have come to our City Different to both share and sell their works and talents AND
come together in peace and love, two commodiies now in short supply almost everywhre except for the next two day,s here !

sanafepea wrote:

although this is a lovely thought to give folk artists from other countries an opportunity to show and sell work it is a little self serving for the museum to ignore the plight of the local artists and the downturn of the santa fe art market. Not only do these shows take money from local artists - the city looses taxes that would have gone into the ailing local economy. In this economic downturn we need to look closer to home - and take care of our own. The art market used to be a driving force in santa fe. The overabundance of of museums - who do not pay taxes has hurt the local economy and art market. Let us look inward - honor those artists who honor santa fe and give back local artists their due.

If this was a Southwest Artists show you would have a good point. Unfortunately you don't. This is Folk Art not SW or Contemporary art which this city is full of. The few artist that do Folk Art in SF are welcome to be part of the show. As for all the other artists there are several venues which they can participate in throughout the summer. What's wrong with something a little different once in a while?

I sure like joe's sentiments better than the first two posts. We look forward to attending the peaceful, inspiring international folk art market this weekend, mingling with folks from all over the globe! Where else could you travel the world yet stay right in your own back yard?:)

SFean wrote:

I sure like joe's sentiments better than the first two posts. We look forward to attending the peaceful, inspiring international folk art market this weekend, mingling with folks from all over the globe! Where else could you travel the world yet stay right in your own back yard?:)

Ken and the Pea sound like they just might be a couple of not highly successful SF artists. Or maybe they're just the type that have to find something negative in everything.

Linda Carey - If the prices are so low that it makes you feel guilty I'm pretty sure you could pacify your guilt and give them more than they're asking for. Ever think of that? They would probably be greatful for the extra. Do you tip in restaurants?

sanafepea: "...The art market used to be a driving force in santa fe. The overabundance of of museums - who do not pay taxes has hurt the local economy and art market. Let us look inward - honor those artists who honor santa fe and give back local artists their due...

Santa Fe artists have the advantage, on a year-round basis, one of the largest, most diverse, well known art markets in the country and even internationally, an informed population with proportionately greater means to support the arts, a multi-layered arts infrastructure, and an attentive media that follows the activities of artists and arts organizations. Yes, local and international artists are generally competing for the same Santa Fe dollars, but will this 2 day event really take away from the market that Santa Fe artists have access to 365 days a year? My visits to the art scene in Santa Fe seem to indicate that many of the artists in the galleries are not local, anyway.

Canyon Road is full of tourists and it appears many of them are from out of town and they are buying local art as well.

although there is a lot of very high quality and unique stuff, there's plenty of dross too...... why would anyone feature Turkmen or Uzbek rugs at this market? those can be bought by the 100's right here and by thousands across the US. and many of the artists featured, Musa Albaka included, are selling lots of good they did NOT in fact produce themselves and are representing as such. We can all strain our arms patting ourselves on the back about "helping 3rd world artisans" but plenty of those at the Market are doing rather well for themselves already.And you can ask any of the local specialist dealers in folk or ethnic art if this does anything for local sales- it's a major drain away from our market. and why is it WAY more expensive when you "buy direct" from so many of these artisans at the Market?????

unimpressed wrote:

although there is a lot of very high quality and unique stuff, there's plenty of dross too...... why would anyone feature Turkmen or Uzbek rugs at this market? those can be bought by the 100's right here and by thousands across the US. and many of the artists featured, Musa Albaka included, are selling lots of good they did NOT in fact produce themselves and are representing as such. We can all strain our arms patting ourselves on the back about "helping 3rd world artisans" but plenty of those at the Market are doing rather well for themselves already.And you can ask any of the local specialist dealers in folk or ethnic art if this does anything for local sales- it's a major drain away from our market. and why is it WAY more expensive when you "buy direct" from so many of these artisans at the Market?????

Don't go next time. I'm sure no one forced you.