Trail Of Tears Art Show Winners Named

TAHLEQUAH, OK - The Cherokee Heritage Center announced the winners of the 40th Annual Trail of Tears Art Show during an awards celebration at the Cherokee Heritage Center. The 2011 Grand Prize has been awarded to Troy Jackson, Cherokee, for “Putting The Pieces Together” in the pottery category.

The 40th Annual Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale runs through May 8 and features authentic Native American art in one of Oklahoma’s oldest art shows.

This year’s annual exhibition includes 93 Native American artists from 13 Tribal Nations featuring 155 art pieces. Native American citizens from federally recognized tribes competed in several divisions and categories including painting, sculpture, pottery, basketry, graphics and miniatures. A special Trail of Tears theme category and a jewelry category were offered for the first time.


“2011 marked another great year for the Trail of Tears Art Show,” said Carey Tilley, Executive Director at the Cherokee Heritage Center. “The art speaks for itself in demonstrating the strength, beauty and creativity of the Native American art world.”

 
 
About Cherokee Heritage Center
The Cherokee Heritage Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a cultural center for Cherokee tribal history, culture, and the arts. Located in the heart of the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Okla., it was established in 1963 by the Cherokee National Historical Society to preserve and promote the Cherokee culture. The Cherokee Heritage Center is also home to the Cherokee National Archives, which is the Nation’s foremost collection of historic tribal related documents and artifacts from the 1700s through present day. The Cherokee Heritage Center is situated on the grounds of the original Cherokee Female Seminary, which is one of the first institutions of higher learning for women west of the Mississippi and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service has designated the Center as the interpretive site for the western terminus of the Trail Of Tears for the Cherokees and other tribes forcibly removed to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma, during the 1800s.