By Jacey Blue Renner
The iconic Cowboys and Indians Antiques on Central Avenue not only showcases extensive collections of antiques from across the country but has also orchestrated and hosted the Great Southwestern Antique Show for 27 years as of this summer. The annual community touchstone, which supports local nonprofits and art and education programs, this year is set for July 31-August 2 at Expo New Mexico’s Lujan Center.
Opening Cowboys and Indians Antiques in 1995, along historic Route 66 in Nob Hill, Terry Schurmeier took on the event from the previous owner in 1999. She was no stranger to art, the joy of collection and of discovering beloved treasures.
“In Chicago, we grew up with one of the best museums of Native American material in the US, and that was the Field Museum,” Schurmeier said. “Every Sunday we got dropped off either at the Art Institute or the Field Museum or the Shed Aquarium, or you know, one of the big museums in Chicago, and both my sister and I ended up being collectors and being antique dealers. It really taught us about collecting and buying.”
Much like Cowboys and Indians Antiques, the Great Southwestern Antique Show features Native American and Western art, as well as fine and folk art, Western wear, textiles and jewelry, and other rare collectibles.
With buyers representing as many as 30 countries during its tenure, the show often lends high-end buyers from the likes of Ralph Lauren early opportunities to find unique and hard-to-find pieces. Many of the dealers have been coming to the show since Schurmeier’s very first year.
“I’ve done it out of the love of the industry and understanding that for a lot of these dealers, the shows are their only mechanism to make money,” Schurmeier said. “We have a lot of dealers that have done this their whole lives.”
The show, which attracts about 95 vendors and 2,000 attendees from across the globe, is also charity-focused. Proceeds from ticket sales at the Charity Sneak Preview on the event’s first day will go to long-established New Mexico arts and educational programs on New Mexico PBS through the Albuquerque Community Foundation NMPBS Endowment.
“We have stayed with PBS because I felt that it was the broadest mechanism to enhance people’s awareness of New Mexico. What most people don’t know is that KNME is the second largest producer of independent programming in all of PBS,” Schurmeier says of her 15-year partnership with the station. “So, we help fund programs specific to our cultural arts and interests and promoting education about New Mexico.”
General admission ticket sales will continue to fund two other Schurmeier-established endowments: one for St. Pius High School, where her own son went to school, and the other for the University of New Mexico Nurse Oncology program. These funds are earmarked as scholarship dollars for St. Pius students of single parents who might have financial need and continuing education grants for the UNM oncology nurses.
In the years she has hosted the show, Schurmeier has provided over $500,000 in donations, including funding to the three focused endowments. Some funds also go to smaller, localized grants. For example, last year Schurmeier gave $5,000 for a specialty grant for the New Mexico Special Olympics.
“Making our community stronger, which I believe you do through education, you do through community building – there’s still always work to do in that area,” she said. “No matter how much of an impact you already had, there’s always something else that can be done.”
For tickets and to learn more about the Great Southwestern Antique Show and its Charity Sneak Peak event July 31, visit gswevents.com/show-information.
