GRAND FORKS – A senior at Red River High School has received a first-place award for her painting at the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts’ Indian Market event held recently in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Niska Kempenich earned the award – her first blue ribbon – for her artwork, titled “One Way,” at the event, said Hillary Kempenich, her mother, a multidisciplinary artist.

The award was presented in the 14-17 Youth Category for Painting, Drawing, Graphics and Photography, “a division that celebrates the diversity and creativity of young Native artists across multiple two-dimensional art forms,” said Kempenich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

The Southwestern Association for Indian Arts hosts the annual Indian Market, the largest and most prestigious juried Native art

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