- Details
- By Brian Edwards
- Arts and Culture
When a talented young Navajo writer in Kansas and a celebrated Dakota author teaching virtual writing workshops 1,500 miles away remained strangers, Valerie Vande Panne spotted what amounted to the ultimate creative missed connection.
Her response: Fry Bread, a digital platform that dismantles those barriers by connecting Native artists with resources, mentorship and exhibition opportunities nationwide.
“There's so much cool stuff happening in Native art, but if it doesn't show up in your algorithm, you'll miss out,” Vande Panne said, highlighting the need for a central hub where people could find these opportunities.
“I feel like everyone knows about Santa Fe Indian Market, but there's Native art happening all over the country — from Indianapolis to Lawrence, Kansas, to The Hamptons out on Long Island,” said Vande Panne, a journalist, actor and the communications manager at American Indian Community House (AICH) in New York City.
The Native art market Fry Bread aims to connect is substantial and diverse - a multi-billion-dollar industry encompassing everything from fine art and jewelry to fashion and digital media. While exact figures are hard to pinpoint due to the fragmented nature of the market, estimates suggest that authentic Native American arts and crafts generate over $1 billion annually in the U.S. alone.
Major events like the Santa Fe Indian Market contribute tens of millions in economic activity, and online platforms have expanded access for Native artists worldwide. However, the market continues to grapple with issues like counterfeit goods and misrepresentation, underscoring the importance of platforms that prioritize authenticity and support Native creators directly.
Fry Bread serves as both a resource pipeline and discovery tool — linking artists to grants and exhibition venues while guiding collectors and enthusiasts to seek out Native artwork beyond traditional markets. The platform features comprehensive grant listings, artist portfolios across disciplines, and a curated database of exhibition spaces, residencies, and professional development workshops.
Beyond its resource directory, Fry Bread serves as a journalistic platform, publishing interviews, feature stories, and in-depth reporting on Indigenous artists and their work, further amplifying Native voices and creative perspectives across the country.
“Being a place where we can uplift that work and, in that same spirit, connect Native folks with opportunities to learn and share and grow outside of their geographic area, that's one of the things that really inspired me,” Vande Panne explained.
The spark for Fry Bread ignited two years ago. While teaching a storytelling workshop at the University of Kansas, Vande Panne met a 17-year-old Diné student eager to develop his writing skills. Shortly after, when a friend mentioned acclaimed Dakota author Diane Wilson was teaching virtual workshops in Minnesota, Vande Panne recognized a missed connection.
“They were geographically segregated,” Vande Panne explained. “If he had known about that workshop, he would have benefited tremendously—and I think the Minnesota participants would have gained from his presence too.”
These disconnects became the foundation for Fry Bread's mission. The platform also aims to showcase diverse contemporary Native art beyond traditional expectations.
“I think a lot of folks want Native artists to (keep) creating buffaloes and flying Eagles, and that's fine, and that is part of the art. But that's not all the art is,” Vande Panne said. “Contemporary Native art is spectacular and thoughtful and inspiring.”
While the site focuses primarily on visual art right now, Vande Panne is “working toward a holistic and robust platform that will cover all arts “including traditional craftwork, fine art, fashion, movies, music, literature and stage. Anything artistic... we’re using a broad definition, and as we grow we hope to cover more.”
Since its full launch in late April (after soft-launching earlier this year), Fry Bread has already gained momentum, featuring interviews with acclaimed Cherokee actor Wes Studi, Winnebago multidisciplinary artist Allison Levering, and Cherokee ceramics artist Maeve Hilgers. The platform has also highlighted nearly two dozen grants and multiple workshops specifically for Native artists.
Currently centered on U.S.-based Native artists, Fry Bread also plans to expand its coverage to include Native artists in Canada and Indigenous artists from around the world. Vande Panne mentioned an upcoming exhibition of contemporary Aboriginal art from Australia in Indianapolis, highlighting connections between Indigenous communities.
Vande Panne, who is of mixed-race ancestry including Mexican, Native American (unenrolled Southwestern tribes), and white heritage, previously served as managing editor of Native News Online, which is owned by the same company that operates Tribal Business News. She also worked in mainstream media outlets including alt-weekly Metro Times in Detroit and the glossy national cannabis magazine High Times. Her journalism has appeared in Bloomberg, NPR, Reuters, Columbia Journalism Review and many other publications.
In addition to her work at AICH and as a journalist, Vande Panne is a working actor on both stage and screen. She recently appeared as a U.S. congresswoman in the Netflix show "Zero Day," featuring Robert DeNiro, Jesse Plemons and Lizzy Caplan. She’s also appearing onstage this month in “American Scoreboard,” a production series featuring dramatic readings of congressional hearing transcripts.
