Sponsored by Allied Arts this is a portion of a program called "What We Wear". Clothing or regalia (we never say costume) is a powerful mode of self expression and blends historical design and modern dress. A dancer's regalia is a collection of items that reflect their lives, interests, and family background. We wear family heirlooms or gifts crafted by family members. Worn with responsibility and pride, the clothing represents community traditions and personal tastes. 

The Central Plains Dance Group will provide a short presentation of a variety of men's and ladies dance styles. Mens and Ladies Fancy Dance, Men's traditional, Hoop Dance and Southern Cloth will be featured. Each Dancer will explain their background and their dance outfit. This session is part of the"What We Wear"program at Red Earth and is funded by Allied Arts OKC.

Collecting Southwest Jewelry is presented by Scott Hale, a third generation art appraiser & advisor. Scott is the former director of the  Brett Weston Archive and curated several private, corporate, and non-profit collections, responsible for museum exhibitions and publications including the traveling retrospective, “Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow.” In these roles he worked with numerous outstanding international museums, galleries, auction houses, publishers and especially collectors.

A graduate of Trinity University and the University of Oklahoma where he pursued his masters and doctoral studies, teaching for over ten years in the English Department, Film and Video Studies Program, Native American Studies Program, lecturing in the School of Art and Art History, as well as Gilcrease Museum, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Fred Jones Museum of Art, Museum of Indian Arts and culture. and the Wheelright Museum of the American Indian.

An independent art advisor, author, curator, and speaker, Scott brings extensive scholarship in Naturalism, Romanticism, Regionalism, Modernism, Postmodernism, Indigenous, Latinx, and other historic and contemporary American, Canadian and Mexican art histories, as well as academic research and writing skills to each appraisal report. Scott has served as an auction house specialist (Sotheby's and Santa Fe Art Auction), exhibitions and advisory committee member, art juror, conference presenter/panelist, charity auctioneer, and media personality.

Dart is a Cherokee artist, specializing in the art of contemporary double-wall basketry an exceptionally difficult technique involving the continuous weave of both an interior and exterior wall within each basket. Mike learned the art of Basketry in 1992 from master Cherokee weaver, Shawna Morton-Cain who was designated a Living Treasure of the Cherokee Nation in 2006 for her knowledge and skill in the art of Cherokee basketry. However he says that his interest in basketry began during childhood when he would watch his grandmother, the late Pauline Dart weave baskets and build woven furniture out of willow, hickory and other materials native to the land around her home Mike's baskets are generally classified as "contemporary" because his primary media are contemporary materials such rattan reed and RIT Fabric and other aniline dyes. However, he does weave with natural materials such honeysuckle buckbrush He says that he will always weave with contemporary materials because it allows him to express himself better artistically, and there are certain colors he likes to use that cannot be obtained from natural materials. He defines the difference between traditional and contemporary as the following: "A Cherokee basket is classified as traditional if it is woven in a traditional way, and all the materials and dyed are natural. A Cherokee basket is classified as contemporary if it is woven in a traditional way using commercially manufactured materials and dyes. Some weavers will use both natural and commercial materials. This is called using 'mixed mediums' and it fits into the contemporary category.

The past, the present and the future come together in a piece of cottonwood tree root that slowly takes shape in the hands of Hopi kachina carver Nick Brokeshoulder.

"I was 8 years old when I started," he says. "My grandfather used to draw a face on a paper plate and tell me how to paint it. While he did his painting and carving, I painted." Soon he was making and selling small flat kachinas. He sold his first kachina doll at age 12. Brokeshoulder grew up with his grandfather on a remote area of the Hopi Indian reservation northeast of Flagstaff, Arizona.

"There weren't a lot of kids around," he says. "Grandfather's friends were my friends. He taught be about my people the songs, the ceremonies and the kachinas."

The Red Earth Arts Festival offers guests the opportunity to view and purchase the works of more than 70 of the country most talented Native Artists and Craftsmen. As diverse as the tribes from which they com, their style represents both Traditional and Contemporary Art in Painting, Sculpture, Jewelry, Pottery Drawing and Cultural Items.