Day Trip to Indianapolis Native Market

The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian in Evanston is hosting a one-day bus trip to Indianapolis on Saturday, June 21, 2008, for a visit to the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and its 16th annual Indian Market and Festival.

The Eiteljorg’s market is the largest of its type in the Midwest, with more than 140 Native American artists representing 60 tribes coast to coast. Artists will be selling paintings, drawings, jewelry, sculpture, drums, baskets, beaded items, and other hand-made creations. Exhibits are displayed in large tents on the grassy grounds of White River State Park directly behind the museum, alongside a scenic canal.

The event also promises Native music, dance, and storytelling performances; and formal presentations on the arts of storytelling, dance, pottery, and drum making. Visitors can learn to make their own shell necklaces, beaded bracelets, dolls, masks, and petroglyph rubbings at craft workshops.

Market visitors also gain admission to the Eiteljorg Museum itself, with its permanent galleries of Native American objects from throughout North America, as well as Western American art, including works by Georgia O’Keeffe and Frederic Remington. Current temporary exhibits include “Ansel Adams in Yosemite” and “Yosemite: Art of an American Icon and Camp Yosemite.”

An air-conditioned motor coach will depart from the Mitchell Museum, 3001 Central Street (at Central Park Avenue) in Evanston at 8 a.m. and is to arrive back at the museum at approximately 7:30 p.m. Travel time is approximately 3-1/2 hours each way.

En route, travelers can watch Native-themed documentaries and feature films.

The transportation cost is $70 per person round-trip, and advance registration is required. The price covers transportation only and does not include admission to the event.

Participants will need to buy separate admission tickets to the event upon arrival at the Eiteljorg Museum. Adult admission is $10 at the gate. Visitors 17 and younger are admitted free. Information is available at www.eiteljorg.org.

For trip information, phone the Mitchell Museum at (847) 475-1030. On the Net: www.mitchellmuseum.org.