Phoenix, AZ – Jacqueline Rickard (Walker River Paiute) did not expect to win Best of Show at the 68th annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market. This was her first time ever entering the market.
But her creation, It is Pure Joy, Basket Creation did just that, receiving the Best of Classification for baskets as well as Best of Show.
Her painstakingly detailed pictorial beaded basket portrays her grandmother, “because she’s my inspiration for the design of this basket,” Rickard shared at the award reception. “And it’s also a nod to weavers of the past because I feel them around me often.”
In a Northern Paiute basketry style, Rickard adds glass seed beads as she coils her basket to create an elaborate design, including a school of fish at the base, and other natural elements, such as a flying bald eagle, and dynamic geometric patterns in dazzlingly bright colors.
“Every day I wake up, and I want to sit down and work on my baskets,” continues Rickard. “It is the joy of my life to create baskets.”
With more than 600 Indigenous artists, the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market is the largest and oldest Native art market in Arizona. It’s the second-largest Native art market in the nation, attracting artists from Alaska to New York, and several First Nations artists from Canada. The all-volunteer Heard Museum Guild organizes this market as a benefit to the Heard Museum.
Classification winners are as follows. Click on the image to enlarge.
Classification Winners
I. Jewelry and Lapidary
Best of Classification: Roy Talahaftewa (Hopi), Concho Belt, Water and Corn Clan Migration
II. Pottery
Best of Classification: Jared Tso (Diné), Hastiin Bob Square Bun
III. Two-Dimensional Art
Best of Classification: Merlin Little Thunder (Cheyenne), From a Place of Strength and Beauty
IV. Pueblo Carvings
Best of Classification: Tayron Polequaptewa (Hopi), Monongya Katsina
V. Sculpture
Best of Classification: Leon Misak Kinneeveauk (Point Hope Inupiaq), Katang the Shaman Vision of the Past
VI. Weavings & Textiles
Best of Classification: Kevin Aspaas (Navajo), Holy Corn
VII. Diverse Art Forms
Best of Classification: Kevin Pourier (Oglala Lakota) and Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty (Fort Peck Assiniboine-Sioux), Protects the Spirit
VIII. Baskets
Best of Classification: Jacqueline Rickard (Walker River Paiute), It is Pure Joy, Basket Creation
Conrad House Award (Best of Innovation)
Earl Patterson Jr. (Hopi), Grinding Stone
Idyllwild Arts Imagination Award
Shelby Rowe (Chickasaw), I’ll Walk You Home
Indian Arts & Crafts Association Commemorative Award
Kyle Lee-Anderson (Diné), Night Sky
Youth Art Show
Best of Youth Art Show, younger: Aiden Kahn (Diné), A Day with Shimasani (Grandma)
Best of Youth Art Show, older: Merlana Naktewa (Zuni), Large Traditional Olla
Links
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- Heard Fair Winners: 2025 | 2024 | 2022 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017
- 68th Annual Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair and Market | March 7 & 8, 2026
- Join the Heard Guild!
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