Celebrating Difference

On a 140-acre campus on the high plains south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) stands as a world leader in contemporary Native arts and culture education-an educational institution committed to "difference." This fifty year history explores some basic questions. How is IAIA different from other colleges? What is it about the history, structure, location, and curriculum that makes it a special institution? How did a school that began as an experiment in American Indian arts education progress from a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) high school to a junior college to an accredited non-profit baccalaureate institution in less than fifty years? And what does the next fifty years have in store? Published in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of IAIA, this compilation of historical documents, photographs, essays, and conversations illuminates the history and role of art education at the Institute of American Indian Arts. RYAN S. FLAHIVE is the archivist for the Institute of American Indian Arts. He has dedicated his career to education, museums, and public history and specializes in digital preservation and manuscript curation. Flahive earned his bachelor's degree in history and anthropology from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri and holds a master's degree in history and a graduate certificate in museum studies from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.