The Indian Arts Fund
By Kenneth L. Chapman
The Indian Arts Fund, established in 1922 and incorporated in 1925, is the youngest of the museum and research organizations of Santa Fe. The Fund is the outgrowth of years of observation on the part of a small group of Santa Feans who have seen the rapid deterioration and disappearance of many Indian arts which had won the admiration of connoisseurs the world over.
Many others in years past had done their full share of deploring over this same situation, but none had ever made a serious attempt to save what could still be saved of the finest products of past generations, as an inspiration to the craftsmen of today, who must be kept in touch with them, if the best traditions of their forefathers are to survive and be banded down to coming generations.
Once organized, the trustees of the Fund determined to acquire for permanent exhibition in Santa Fe, an outstanding collection of Indian arts and crafts of the Southwest, for the education of the American public, for students of Indian lore, and more particularly for the Indians themselves. The Fund concentrated first on building up a collection of Pueblo pottery that would show each step in the progress of the art for the past four hundred years. Paradoxical as it may seem, the rarest and most important of all Pueblo pottery is not the prehistoric, but that which was produced during the centuries following the coming of the Spaniards. In prehistoric times, tens of thousands of specimens were safely interred with the dead, where they still lie, awaiting the shovel of the archaeologist. But after the Spanish conquest this custom of burial was abandoned, and the marvel is that any of the pottery of this later period ever survived the wear and breakage of daily use.
With this in view, the Fund at once exerted itself to secure as full a representation as possible of the antique and modern art of each pueblo, fully realizing that even the best product of today will be highly prized by future generations. It seemed at the outset that at least five hundred specimens would be needed to make the collection fully representative, of the potter’s art. The trustees now smile at their conservatism, for the collection, already the largest and finest in the world, numbers nearly a thousand pieces, and many more are still needed to tell fully the story of pottery making in each pueblo.
Other arts and crafts have since claimed their just share of attention, and with the increase of contributions for the work, the Fund has turned its attention to basketry, textiles, silver and other crafts of the Pueblo, Navajo and other tribes. A conservative estimate of the value of the Fund’s exhibits is $25,000, but this point should be stressed, that many of the specimens are absolutely unique and that the collection as a whole could not be duplicated at any cost.
As yet, the collections are inadequately displayed, although the State Museum tenders to the utmost its facilities for their safe storage, where by appointment they may be seen by appreciative visitors, and where they may be used by students, artists and others who have a serious purpose in their study. But, above all else, they are available to the Indians themselves. More and more the present generation of craftsmen are familiarizing themselves with these treasures of their ancestors. To reach far away pueblos and tribes, photographs and drawings are furnished without cost as time and funds permit, and these, placed in government and sectarian schools for Indians, and in the hands of adult craftsmen, are proving themselves of the greatest value to those who arc unable to visit the museum.
Nothing succeeds like success! The resources of the Fund have grown from year to year, as the many phases of its work become better known. Membership fees range from $5.00 to $25.00 per year. Even larger annual contributions are made by generous friends who realize that particular activities call for immediate support if the full usefulness of the Fund is to be realized.
The trustees now have a vision of adequate museum and laboratory facilities for every phase of this growing work. Once this is realized, the Indian Arts Fund will enter into a greater sphere of usefulness, undreamed of when it first surveyed the field only six years ago.
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