Indian Art Market

Watson Lake Inn Streetfood and Tapas Chef Peter Gebauer AAC

Wild rice and bison arancini prickly pear syrup

Prescott Indian Art Market

For two decades, the Prescott Indian Art Market has presented some of the finest native American art in the Southwest. Get ready to celebrate the Market’s 21st anniversary!

What is the scoop?

The Indian Art Market takes place July 14 & 15; Two Days only… of spectacular works of Indian art at the Sharlot Hall gardens. Comfortably warm temperatures and a steady stream of art enthusiasts enjoy viewing (and buying) exquisite wood and stone carvings, distinctive ceramics… sculptures in stone, leather, and ceramic… gorgeous paintings in acrylics, oil, watercolor… hand-woven baskets, blankets and clothing… distinctive jewelry and much, much more. Juried artists present traditional and contemporary artwork making PIAM one of the Southwest’s premier Indian-art markets.

Native American History and Food

When people asked about Native American food, fry bread may be the likely answer, most couldn’t name a single Native American dish from any one the vast network of tribes, cultures, and cuisines that spread across the U.S. before Europeans arrived. All over the country, Indian communities that were forcefully divorced from their traditional food ways have suffered from poverty, colonialism, and a lack of fresh food for the better part of a century.

In the Plains in the late 1800s, millions of bison were hunted to the point of extinction, In the Northwest, salmon were diminished because of man-made dams along the rivers. And in Minnesota, cultivated cranberry marshes and rice beds were drowned to free up land for logging, forcing Indians to relocate to the White Earth Reservation. By killing the food—from coast to coast—the government defeated Native Americans. And in turn, these tribes became dependent on the government for cheap, rationed foods like white rice, lard, flour, bacon. Over time, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer, afflictions previously absent from Indian life, came to plague reservations. Today, farmers, activists, and chefs are trying to change that by bringing back Native and indigenous foods.

At Watson Lake Inn you may enjoy a native inspired meal during your stay

Our guests may enjoy native inspired dishes in several ways, for example, house made prickly pear syrup and jelly are staple for breakfast, we recently incorporated blue corn chalupas, three sister mash and tamales. At dinner time we may offer appetizers such as wild rice arancini with bison meat, or tepary bean cakes with queso blanco to name a few. Ready to give it a try, book your suite now – and prickly pear harvest begins in August…

Some other notable events later this summer

August 4 – August 5, 2018 Prescott Antique Auto Club Show
August 19, 2018 Prescott Farm to Table Dinner at the Highland Hotel
September 28, Mortimer Farms Pumpkin Festival (Fri, Sat & Sun)
October 6, the 40th Annual Folk Music Festival at Sharlot Hall Museum

For more events and details visit the Prescott Chamber of Commerce website here.

Visitors to the Prescott Indian Art Market and throughout the year have many good lodging options; but when staying with us at Watson Lake Inn, you set up your ideal base camp to explore the area, fueled by an incredible breakfast which takes you on a voyage of culinary discovery, and keeps you going all day.

Watson Lake Inn – “Where culinary pleasures and experiences become lifetime memories.”