The award-winning Red Earth Festival, recognized as one of America’s foremost Native art festivals, opens Fourth of July weekend at the iconic National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
After 30 years at the Cox Convention Center, Red Earth will celebrate the 2022 Festival at a new venue. Festival guests will experience the artistic creations of some of America’s most celebrated Native artists as they offer their creations for sale. Special presentations of tribal dance, demonstrations, and hands-on arts and crafts will be featured throughout the weekend.
“The inviting atmosphere at The Cowboy will allow the festival the opportunity to provide enhanced visitor experiences and engaging exhibits and activities for the entire family,” said Vickie Norick, Chairman of the Red Earth Board. “The beautiful outdoor venue, Liichokoshkomo, provides the perfect backdrop for our dance performances and cultural activities.”
Liichokoshkomo’ is the new a 100,000 square foot outdoor expansion with seven intertribal Native dwellings.. The Cowboy’s permanent collections include Western material culture, American Indian art and artifacts, the Silberman collection of Native American fine art and the Taos Society of Artists.
"With the combined experience of the Museum and this great Festival, visitors will truly feel immersed in the histories and cultures of the American West,” said Natalie Shirley, President and CEO at The Cowboy. “Art from the 50th Prix de West, the Museum’s premiere Western art exhibition and sale, will also be on display during the festival, giving visitors an added opportunities to see some of the finest modern Western art on the market today.”
Daily general admission wristbands are $15 per person while all children under six are admitted for free with a paid adult. Festival admission includes entrance to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and Red Earth Festival activities.
A special, limited attendance Red Earth Art Preview Reception is scheduled for Thursday, June 30, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in The Cowboy’s Sam Noble Special Events Center. Evening activities provide guests the opportunity to shop the festival before it opens to the public. Artists will be ready with their exquisite examples of contemporary and traditional paintings, sculpture, jewelry, beadwork, basketry, and pottery. A special presentation of “What We Wear” will display the unique contemporary fashions, jewelry and wear-able creations for sale by our native artists.
Red Earth, Inc. is an Allied Arts member agency funded in part by the Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, Heartland, and Oklahoma’s News Channel 4. Red Earth, Inc. is a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization with a mission to promote the rich traditions of American Indian arts and cultures through education, a premier festival, a museum and fine art markets.
About the Oklahoma Arts Council
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The Council’s mission is to lead, cultivate and support a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans. The Council provides more than 500 grants to over 250 organizations in communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state’s arts and cultural industry, and manages hundreds of works of art in the public spaces of the state Capitol. For more information, visit arts.ok.gov.