But while the floor of the shop seems calm, Catherine Fetka, art buyer for the Heard Museum gift shop, is stationed in an adjoining room, scrambling to prepare for this year’s Ornament Marketplace, which will open on Thursday.
Fetka, who also serves as a chairwoman of the Ornament Marketplace, seems excited but anxious for the event as she sorts through hundreds of handmade Native American ornaments. She’s also figuring out where in the gift shop she will place the five 7-foot-tall Christmas trees that the ornaments will soon adorn.
“I’m nervous about getting it all set up,” Fetka said, laughing.
The Ornament Marketplace is one of the Heard Museum’s popular holiday events, bringing in artists from local Hopi and Navajo tribes, as well as from Pueblo tribes in New Mexico. Now in its fifth year, the event is hosting about 30 Native American artists who will set up shop from Thursday through Sunday in order to sell handmade ornaments, baskets and wreaths.
The ornaments often represent the tribes’ culture, from brightly colored Navajo butterflies to handwoven Ho-Chunk baskets and Hopi figures wrapped in corn husks. This year’s marketplace will also include sterling-silver stars by local Navajo artist Peter Nelson.
“Last year, we had 15 sterling-silver ornaments, and we sold out,” Fetka said. “I actually had people who wanted one and went home without one because we didn’t have enough.”
To prevent that from happening this year, Nelson made 20 of the limited-edition stars that fit into a palm. The stars are $175 each, while other ornaments range from $6 to $40.
Debra Krol, senior communications director for the Heard Museum, said the Ornament Marketplace is great for the Phoenix community, especially because it plays to the growing small-art movement.
“People are looking for that personal connection,” Krol said. “This gives them a chance to pick up a handmade piece for not a lot of money.”
Fetka agreed with Krol on the importance of the event to the community.
“It’s good because it educates people on Native American art,” she said.
Fetka said the marketplace also helps support Native American artists and gives them the chance to think outside the box.
Heard bookstore manager Lynn Bullock said the Ornament Marketplace brings in many customers over its run.
“A lot of museum members are aware and wait for it,” she said. “And a lot of people have family in town for Thanksgiving and bring them to the Heard, even if they’re not aware of it.”
Bullock will be busy over the weekend, as well, because the book store is hosting two book signings. On Friday, Tom Van Dyke, author of “A Cowboy Christmas,” will appear, and on Saturday, children’s author Susan Lowell will sign copies of her book “A Very Hairy Christmas.”
But for Fetka, the focus is on the ornaments. Because this is the gift shop’s biggest event of the year, she’s pushing to finish all of her preparations in time for the Thanksgiving Day opening.
Contact the reporter at linnea.bennett@asu.edu
