Commissioner of Indian Affairs Morris Thompson announced today that the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) Santa Fe, New Mexico, will be chartered as a junior college.
The school, established in 1962, has had for many years a postsecondary program in the fine arts and has many distinguished Indian artists among its alumni. It has not been, however, a degree granting institution.
The Indian Board of Regents at the school, and other Indian leaders, have requested that a junior college program be established at the Institute. The school will now expand its curriculum and seek accreditation to issue an associate of Fine Arts degree.
Operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the school will continue to provide a high school program for junior and senior Indian students interested in studying fine arts.
IAIA has long been recognized as a unique center of Indian culture and arts. An excellent museum and the Bureau's Cultural Studies and Resource Materials Development Center are located on the campus as part of the Institute. Articles about the Institute have been published in the New Yorker, Life, American Education, the London Observer and other publications.
Students for the school come from Indian tribes throughout the United States.
Lloyd Kiva New, a Cherokee artist renowned for his work in textile and fashion design, is Director of the Institute.
