A female Tahltan carver from Prince Rupert was awarded first prize for her work at the Indigenous art show in Sante Fe.
Dale Campbell is becoming a regular at the annual Santa Fe Indian Market that showcases approximately 900 artists from First Nations groups across the U.S. and Canada.
This year, she submitted a paddle she carved with an eagle design and abalone inlaid in the wood to the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) organization. She called the piece “eagle harvesting the salmon” and she received first place in the “diverse art” category.
Campbell explored the market two years ago, and then last year she set up her own booth and came away with two first-place ribbons and second place for her wood carvings.
“It was an awesome show again and I’m so grateful to be in that show,” she said, adding that she made some contacts for business.
Her brother, Terrance Campbell, joined her and the two shared a table to display their work, including jewelry and other wood carvings.
The other highlight for the Prince Rupert artist was that in the art show guide book there was an article that mentioned her work.
“It goes through all the different hotels, and they put a write-up in there — ‘Canadians making a mark at market’. That’s awesome. It’s only been since 2012 that they allowed Canadian artists in the show,” she said. The Santa Fe market began in 1922.
The juried Indigenous art show was held on the weekend of Aug. 19-20 and drew up to 100,000 visitors from around the world.
Dale Campbell has been fine tuning her craft since 1972, when she attended a carving workshop with Dempsey Bob and Freda Diesing.