Allan Houser is considered to be one of the most important Native American artists of the 20th century. His work is displayed in collections in the southwest. Several museums in the east like the National Museum of American Art and the Museum of Indian Art in Washington, D.C. feature his work. The Japanese Royal Collection in Tokyo also exhibit his art. Houser was born in 1914 and was a member of the Chiricahua Apache tribe in Oklahoma. He moved to Santa Fe in 1934 where he died in 1994.
Institute of American Indian Arts
Lloyd Kiva New was the first major Native American fashion designer in the United States. He was a Cherokee Indian from Oklahoma. The designer was born in 1916 and died in Santa Fe in 2002. New attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Later he opened a fashion boutique in Scottsdale. Then he became an art teacher in Phoenix. New arrived in Santa Fe in 1962. He established a unique insight in education when he founded the Institute of American Indian Art. New believed many of the students were natural-born artists. He was able to teach them using an abstract curriculum.
Today, IAIA has produced many renowned artists. Other students have gone on to educational, legal and medical professions. Many IAIA students and alumni participate in the annual Santa Fe Indian Market. Held in August each year, the Indian Market is the largest of its kind in the world.