Art historian W. Jackson Rushing demonstrates that 
ideas and images associated with  Native American art 
and culture were primary factors in the genesis and 
subsequent development of modern art and art theory. 
Utilizing direct evidence such as sketches and statements, 
he has documented the influence of general Native American 
art motifs, particularly from the Northwest Coast and 
Southwest culture areas, on particular New York avant-garde a
rtists of the period 1910-1950. In some cases, he has documented 
the direct influence of particular artists such as 
San Ildefonso artists, including Quah Ah (Tonita Pena), 
Crescencio Martinez, Julian Martinez, Ma-We-Pi, Oqua Pi 
(Abel Sanchez), and Awa Tsireh and Hopi artists Fred Kabotie 
and Otis Polelonema" (Rushing 1995:18). Rushing (1995:13) 
notes that "the growing interest in southwestern Indian arts 
and crafts, which were handmade and fully integrated into 
domestic and ritual life (sic), was not dissimilar to aspects 
of the Arts and Crafts  Movement of the late 1880s, or to any 
of the various cersions of Art Nouveau, all of which called for 
the merging of art and everyday life through fine design and 
craftsmanship". Supporting Rushings thesis is the fact that a 
coalition of artists, writers, and art patrons in Santa Fe and 
New York formed the Indian Arts Fund in Santa Fe to 
"save Indian Art for Indians, and to preserve a complete 
histortical record of the varied Indian Arts of the Southwest" 
by reviving their arts and crafts" (Rushing 1995:17).