2023 Abbe Museum Indian Market News: Supporting Artists and Evolving for the Future

pICTURED: gABRIEL fREY, pASSAMAQUODDY; nANCY oAKLEY, mI’KMAQ; kAREN aNN hOFFMAN, Haudenosaunee; aLLEN hAZARD, Narragansett. PhotoS by HB Mertz AND aBBY lANK.

The Abbe Museum Indian Market (AMIM) is re-emerging from the necessary closures of the past few years to once again illuminate Wabanaki artistic excellence and support Tribal creative economies and artists from across Turtle Island. As AMIM returns to Bar Harbor’s Village Green for the weekend of June 2 – 4, 2023, we are also mindful of the toll the pandemic has taken on Native artists.

That's why we are delighted to announce that booth fees for all invited 2023 Abbe Museum Indian Market artists have been sponsored by a generous one-time donation from the JKW Foundation/Collective. In addition, we will also be offering the opportunity, at no cost, for artists to share their booth with a next generation Tribally-enrolled mentee of their choosing. 

We know that we are stronger when we nurture connection and support for each other. This funding opportunity helps us honor these artists as central to Native communities' health and cultural continuance, and at the same time, acknowledge the economic hardships that COVID-19 brought with it.

We know that we cannot promise sponsorships of booth fees in perpetuity but we do plan to engage in a process of listening while we plan for the evolution of this event in the future. One of our hopes is to broaden the scope of AMIM: a multi-venue, multi-day Indigenous Arts & Ideas Festival that would not only host the market but also offer audiences opportunities to hear from Wabanaki and other Native thought leaders about Indigenous values and worldviews as they relate to the big questions of our time ( eg. climate justice, food systems, wellness, democracy, technology).

We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 Abbe Museum Indian Market in June!