ON THE COVER
Benjamin Harjo, Jr. (Shawnee/Seminole) has an infectious sense of mirth and creative energy, which he pours into his award-winning paintings, both large and small. Photo courtesy Ackerman McQueen.

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Kiva Fine Art
Works by Navajo painter David K. John and Hopi painter Dan V. Lomahaftewa are prominently featured in the gallery through October, while other Native painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers, basket weavers and wood workers also consistently maintain a strong presence.

ON THE COVER
This spectacular dancer, Susan Armijo (Mexica), a member of the Aztec-styled dance and music troupe America Indigena, led by flautist Xavier Quijas Yxayotl, enthralled audiences last March at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market and will return for this year’s event.

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While Native American artists have long been recognized as world-class masters in such artistic media as textiles, jewelry and pottery, they have only recently begun to take their rightful places among the ranks of the world's great painters. Here we present a look at the work and lives of four highly talented Native painters who deserve such recognition: Michael Kabotie, Mateo Romero, Norma Howard and Mario Martinez.

Two giants in 20th-century Native American art, Allan Houser (1914­1994) and George Morrison (1919­2000), are being honored in a lead inaugural exhibition at the brand-new National Museum of the American Indian. "Native Modernism: The Art of George Morrison and Allan Houser" will open Sept. 21, 2004 in Washington, D.C. as one of five major shows at the new facility. The exhibition will display approximately 200 works of art in several media.

Many consider him dark and obsessed with death, but he\'s actually luminous, jovial and drawn to life like a moth to a flame. His art may be considered wild and extravagant, yet it is done with extreme deliberation, based on knowledge and information. He might be called a recluse, yet he loves people and life. He\'s perceived as a painter, but he has produced a large body of sculpture and works on paper, as well as an amazing selection of handmade books. He has also been called a paradox, and of all the descriptors, this one hits the mark of the ever-moving figure of artist Fritz Scholder.

Frank Day had charm wrapped in charisma. He had a determined pure talent, along with the greatest concern that all people walk closer to their traditional elegance. And, he had the sterling ability to persuade each of us to do so. Mention his name and the response is sudden and mystical.