Idyllwild Arts Foundation presents its annual Native American Arts Festival Week at the Idyllwild Arts campus from June 19 to June 24, 2022. The week-long event, which has run each summer for over two decades, returns following a hiatus because of COVID-19. They designed the festival to enhance and enrich the Idyllwild Arts Summer Program with Native American arts-based programming, including an invitation exhibition, demonstrations, Native food tastings, film screenings, and the Michael Kabotie Lecture Series.

Idyllwild Arts is an institution rooted in respect, reverence, and support for Native American people, culture, and art, and is the only residential art high school in the country to offer a Native American Arts program. It is fitting that this year’s Native American Arts Festival is being led by a Native American Director, Shaliyah Ben (Diné), whose vision and oversight will bring alive the highly topical theme of this year’s Festival Exploring Institutional Critique. In the last two years, the world has been forced to look inward to examine the historic structures that exist within, and this year’s theme will critique our roles and present innovative ways to do better.

Highlights of this year’s festival include the Opening Night Celebration “Welcoming Home the Birds,” featuring Native American Bird Singing, hands-on activities, traditional food tastings, and artist vendors. The week of programming will culminate on Friday with a live concert performance by Alaska’s Intuit Soul Musical Group PAMYUA. All festival week events are free and open to the public.

Idyllwild Arts are also proud to welcome Chef Freddie Bitsoie (Diné) as the resident guest chef who will provide an array of food tastings throughout the week, including recipe samples from his newly published cookbook, New Native Kitchen: Celebrating Modern Recipes of the American Indian.

For the full schedule of workshops and events, visit the website.