44TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSION, 1999

REQUESTING CONGRESS TO CONTINUE ANNUAL OPERATIONAL FUNDING FOR THE INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN INDIAN ARTS.

WHEREAS, the institute of American Indian arts was chartered by congress in 1962 as a bureau of Indian affairs school for the purpose of studying, promoting the practice of and ensuring continuity of the artistic and cultural traditions of American Indians and Alaska natives; and

WHEREAS, in 1988, the institute of American Indian arts became an independent, federally chartered, nonprofit institution; and

WHEREAS, the state of New Mexico recognizes that having the institute of American Indian arts located in Santa Fe is beneficial to the state, to the Native American population of the state and to the art community in New Mexico; and

WHEREAS, the institute is unique to the western hemisphere, having drawn students from nearly all of the five hundred forty-seven recognized Indian tribes in the country during its thirty-six years of teaching; and

WHEREAS, among the graduates of the institute of American Indian arts are some of the most renowned Native American artists in the country, many of whom have returned to the school to mentor and teach young aspiring artists and provide opportunities to students that no other college or university offers; and

WHEREAS, this is the most critical period of the institute's history, since it has suffered a forty-seven percent budget cut in federal support since the early 1990s; and

WHEREAS, from its earliest days, Santa Fe has been a hub of commercial activity centered around the Native American population; and

WHEREAS, today many artists who participate in the Santa Fe Indian art community are graduates of the institute of American Indian arts, contributing substantially to Santa Fe's status as the second largest arts market in the country; and

WHEREAS, the economic importance of Indian art in Santa Fe is expressed by the negative outcry raised each time there

is mention of moving the Indian market from the immediate Santa Fe area; and

WHEREAS, the institute of American Indian arts has a remarkable and extraordinary opportunity to create a campus that will serve the needs of aspiring Native American artists while emphasizing the traditions from which Native Americans draw their strength and vision as well as providing a strong foundation on which the future of Native American arts will be built; and

WHEREAS, the institute of American Indian arts has shown the depth and strength of the support for its programs found throughout the state of New Mexico and all of the United States by raising a great part of the funds needed to complete its new campus through successful fundraising efforts in the private sector; and

WHEREAS, private fundraising efforts alone are not sufficient to provide all the funding needed to bring to reality the dream of a new campus or to return the programming at the institute of American Indian arts to its former level; and

WHEREAS, due to its federally chartered status, the institute of American Indian arts is seeking appropriations from congress to continue the school's annual operations;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico congressional delegation and the president of the United States be requested to support the full operational funding of the institute of American Indian arts and to provide full and adequate funding of the operations of the institute through federal appropriations into the next century and beyond; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that congress and the president be requested to consider providing capital funding to the institute of American Indian arts so that its new campus can be completed in a timely manner; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the president of the United States, the New Mexico congressional delegation, the secretary of the interior and the board of trustees of the institute of American Indian arts.