Red Earth Festival Announces 2026 Emerging Artist Award Winners
Red Earth is proud to announce the recipients of the 2026 Emerging Artist Award:
Georgia Adeline “Ushta” Harjo and Saralyn Chee
Presented by Red Earth, the Emerging Artist Award recognizes Native artists at important moments in their creative journeys. The award provides selected artists with the opportunity to participate in the Red Earth Festival Art Market with a booth, offering visibility, hands-on experience, and direct connection with collectors, peers, and the public.
Georgia Adeline “Ushta” Harjo
Muscogee (Creek) Nation,Choctaw, Seminole, Cheyenne
Georgia Adeline Harjo’s connection to Red Earth spans many years, beginning in the Youth Art Show where she earned numerous awards across multiple categories. In 2025, she was named Best in Show at the Red Earth Youth Art Show and served as Head Girl Dancer at FallFest, Red Earth’s youth powwow.
Georgia was also crowned Miss Indian Oklahoma 2024–2025, a role in which she represented Native youth, culture, and community across the state. Her artistic practice includes traditional regalia, beadwork, sewn cultural items, and two- and three-dimensional media that reflect identity, culture, and continuity.
Saralyn Chee
Navajo (Diné)
Saralyn Chee is a fifth-generation Navajo silversmith based in Northern Oklahoma. Working entirely by hand, she uses traditional silversmithing techniques passed down through her family. Her jewelry emphasizes balance, protection, water, and connection to the natural world, blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary expression.
The Emerging Artist Award comes at a pivotal moment as Saralyn begins sharing her work with wider audiences, bringing a deeply rooted silversmithing tradition into public view.
See Them at the 2026 Red Earth Festival
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The 40th Annual Red Earth Festival marks a major milestone for the organization and will return to downtown Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma City Convention Center. The Festival will feature a juried art market with Native artists from across the country, cultural demonstrations, educational programming, and special events celebrating four decades of Native art and culture.
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Festival attendees will have the opportunity to meet both 2026 Emerging Artist Award recipients in person throughout the weekend. Georgia Adeline “Ushta” Harjo and Saralyn Chee will each have booths in the Art Market, offering visitors the chance to engage directly with their work and witness two distinct moments of artistic growth within the Red Earth community.
