Every August, during the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico, hundreds of visitors gather in the historic plaza to witness (and shop) a wide variety of world-class Indigenous art. But that very same weekend, you can always find a different crowd of collectors gathering at the Shiprock gallery downtown. The draw? The buzzy new beadwork pieces by artist Ken Williams Jr.
The masterful beadwork artist, who is Northern Arapaho and Cattaraugus Seneca, is based in Santa Fe and unveils his new pieces every summer during market (though he works on his intricate pieces year-round). This year, Williams Jr. unveiled four new works, all featuring his distinct sense of whimsy, humor, and his wonderful sense of color. “A lot of people can tell it’s my work by the colors,” says Williams Jr. “And I love movement. I love fringe and tassels.”
Williams Jr. comes from a long line of beadwork artists on his mother Toni Williams’s side. While he grew up learning how to bead things for fun, he chose to complete his museum studies at IAIA, before becoming a full-on artist today. It wasn’t until he took a beadwork class with the master beadworker Teri Greeves during college that he really began to experiment with making intricately made objets—and since then, Williams Jr. has developed his own skills and unique sense of style.
These days, Williams Jr.’s works have become some of the most-coveted within the Indigenous art world. His kitschy pieces are best showcased in his ongoing Yum series, where Williams Jr. applies beads to various pieces inspired by yummy foods—from burgers to donuts to s’mores. (Hungry yet? Us too.)
The artist’s sugary-sweet creations often draw from his own memories. His 2026 “Sweet Nostalgia” peppermint swirl necklace, for one, was inspired by a candy shop he used to go to as a kid. “It was called Sweet Factory,” says Williams Jr. “It had all these glass candy jars in it.” In the past, Williams Jr. has also beaded everything from ice cream-themed cuffs to popcorn buckets. “I made a popcorn bucket spilling over last year, because whenever I would go to the movies with my dad, he’d inadvertently spill it before the movie started,” says Williams Jr.
While his food-inspired inspirations are unique to him, Williams Jr.’s embrace of a vibrant, saturated palette is another signature element of his work. Williams Jr. has an obsessive streak for finding antique beads in the rarest of colors, anything from pastel pink to acid yellow. “I scour the internet, and when I’m in a different city, I’ll look for bead stores to see if I can find a different color,” he says. Sometimes, he will even trade bead colors with other fellow artists; His new S'mores-themed necklace, for instance, features brown beads given to him by his mentor, Teri Greeves. “In our culture, we're always taught to give and share,” he says. “I’ve been eating Smores at home a lot—making them on my stovetop.”
But Williams Jr. does stray from his delicious-looking aesthetic from time to time, crafting special handmade pieces that serve as historical pictorials. His 2026 “Honoring Our Beautiful Women” bag, for instance, features a portrait of a young Shoshone woman, based on a real-life image he stumbled upon. “She’s from the Wind River Indian Reservation, where I'm from on my mom's side,” says Williams Jr. “When I see some of these old historical photos, they kind of just grab me. Sometimes it's like they’re choosing me—they want to be brought back to life.”
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It’s precisely this thoughtful approach to his craft that inspires Williams Jr.: Through his dazzling use of beads, the artist wants to tell stories through his striking means of adornment. “All my pieces have a story to them—I never make something just to make them,” he says. Ditto for the traditional materials he often uses. “In our culture, everything has a spirit and is alive,” he says. “We use deerskin or shells, and we use them as a way to keep them alive, and to honor them.”
