Ramona Sakiestewa

Ramona Sakiestewa
Sakiestewa in 2015
Born
Ramona Lynn Sakiestewa

(1948-05-25) May 25, 1948
Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
CitizenshipAmerican, Hopi
EducationSchool of Visual Arts
OccupationsVisual artist, arts administrator
Known forTapestries, printmaking, works on paper
Spouses
  • ​
    (m. 1978)​
  • Andrew F. Merriell
    ​
    (m. 1998)​
Websiteramonasakiestewa.com

Ramona Sakiestewa (born 1948) is a Hopi Native American contemporary artist, who lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Sakiestewa is renowned for her tapestries, printmaking,[1] works on paper, public art, and architectural installations.

Early life and education

Ramona Sakiestewa was born on May 25, 1948, in Albuquerque, New Mexico,[2][3] to a Hopi father and German-English-Irish mother. She studied at Verde Valley School in Sedona, Arizona, and Santa Fe Prep in Santa Fe, New Mexico. To further her understanding of design and color, Sakiestewa traveled to New York City in 1966, to study at the School of Visual Arts.[4]

After she returned to the Southwest, where she took a job as an arts administrator at Santa Fe's Museum of New Mexico.[5]

Career

Early career

Sakiestewa is a self-taught weaver using prehistoric Pueblo techniques from the American Southwest. Her early work employed hand spun and hand dyed yarns. She researched native plant dyes of the Americas along with developing and reproducing cochineal and indigo dyeing techniques. She adapted traditional upright continuous warp weaving methods to horizontal floor loom weaving. In 1981 Sakiestewa opened her weaving studio, Ramona Sakiestewa Ltd., weaving one-of-a-kind tapestries full-time.

Sakiestewa's earliest weavings were simple banded floor rugs in the classic Pueblo style with a contemporary palette. She taught herself by reading books and with the help of a few generous acquaintances. She mastered techniques for dyeing yarn and began showing her work at Santa Fe Indian Market.[4] Sakiestewa's preferred tapestry size was 50" x 70" inches. Her imagery remains abstract—the style that comes most naturally, she says, and captures the essence of her subject, whether inspired by ritual objects, ceremony, or the landscape of the Southwest.[4]

"(Sakiestewa) has pressed issues of scale, texture, color and tone in works that shatter old barriers separating weaving, painting and mixed media." - Ann Lane Hedlund[6]

In the late 1980s Sakiestewa wove thirteen tapestries from the drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Phoenix, Arizona. From 1985 to 1991 she also completed six tapestries for the Gloria Frankenthaler Ross atelier, New York City, of paintings by contemporary painter Kenneth Noland. Sakiestewa co-founded a textile company and was commissioned to design a series of limited edition blankets for Dewey Trading Company, woven by Pendleton Blankets in Pendleton, Oregon; and a limited edition, "Ancient Blanket Series", woven by Scalamandre in Long Island City, New York.[7]

Architecture and design

In 1994, Sakiestewa was invited to join the architectural design team for the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Mall Museum, Washington, D.C.[4] A 10-year project, Sakiestewa created a design vocabulary for the project and collaboratively designed architectural elements for the museum that opened September 21, 2004. Design features included the building's main entry doors, the Entry Plaza Birthdate, a 100-foot copper screen wall, a 60-foot wide theater curtain, and other architectural elements throughout the building. She authored the contributing essay, "Making Our World Understandable" in the companion book, Spirit of a Native Place: Building the National Museum of the American Indian.[8]

In 2009 Sakiestewa closed her weaving studio to further develop her works-on-paper and painting and architectural projects.[1] Continuing her work with architects Sakiestewa designed architectural elements for the Tempe Center for the Performing Arts, Tempe, Arizona (2002–07); the Kurdistan Regional Government project, Erbil, Iraq (2008–11); the Chickasaw Cultural Center, Ada, Oklahoma (2002–04); and the Komatke Health Center, Gila, Arizona (2006–07).

Sakiestewa's experience with public art and her expertise in Native American culture has developed into her being a sought-after advisor for national and international cultural projects. She worked as a design consultant for the observatory and astronomy center for the University of New Mexico.[9]

Her work was included in the exhibition, Hearts of our People: Native Women Artists (2019), organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art.[10]

Arts advocacy

In 1980, Sakiestewa became the first Native American woman to lead the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA), the nonprofit that hosts the annual Santa Fe Indian Market.[11]

Sakiestewa served in the position of chair of the New Mexico Arts Commission];[12] trustee of the International Folk Art Foundation, Santa Fe; member of the National Park Service Concessions Management Advisory Board, Washington, DC, an appointment by the US Secretary of the Interior; member of the New Mexico Coin Commission, Santa Fe, a gubernatorial appointment; trustee of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.

Awards

Sakiestewa has received numerous awards for her artwork, including the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts (2006),[1] the Governor's Outstanding New Mexico Woman's Award (2006), induction into New Mexico Women's Hall of Fame (2006), the New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (2007); and a selected artist for Gift to the Nation, Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, Washington D.C. (2001).[13] She received awards within the Contemporary Weaving division, Santa Fe Indian Market (1982–1991).

Personal life

In 1978, Ramona married poet Arthur Sze.[14] They have one son Micah Sakiestewa Sze.[14][15] In 1998, Ramona married architect and exhibit designer Andrew F. Merriell.

Museum collections

References

  1. ^ a b c Roberts, Kathleen (August 15, 2021). "Parallel Culture". Albuquerque Journal. pp. D3. Retrieved 2026-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b "Ramona Sakiestewa". Saint Louis Art Museum. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  3. ^ Dockstader, Frederick J. (2003). Sakiestewa, Ramona. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T075234.
  4. ^ a b c d Indyke, Dottie (July 16, 2010). "Native Arts: Ramona Sakiestewa". Southwest Art Magazine. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  5. ^ Sonneborn, Liz (2007). A to Z of American Indian Women. Facts on File. p. 218. ISBN 978-0816066940.
  6. ^ Hedlund, Ann Lane, 'Gloria F. Ross & Modern Tapestry', Yale University Press, Arizona State Museum, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, p.109, 2010
  7. ^ "Blanket Series Will Wrap Up Company". Albuquerque Journal. May 5, 1997. p. 65. Retrieved 2026-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ BlueSpruce, Duane (2004). Spirit of a Native Place – Building the National Museum of the American Indian. pp. 80–85.
  9. ^ Kirkham, Pat (2002). Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference. 9780300093315: Yale University Press. p. 109.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  10. ^ Ahlberg, Jill (2019). Hearts of Our People. University of Washington Press. pp. 211–213. ISBN 9780295745794.
  11. ^ "Indian Market Stands Firm on Date". The Santa Fe New Mexican. 22 September 1980. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  12. ^ New Mexico Arts Commission
  13. ^ Gift to the Nation – Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies. Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies. 2001. p. 169. ISBN 0-9712004-0-8.
  14. ^ a b "Weaving Old Into New". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  15. ^ "Nancy S. Fitzgerald". The Santa Fe New Mexican (obituary). November 25, 2012. pp. C002. Retrieved 2026-03-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Ramona Sakiestewa". Albuquerque Museum. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  17. ^ "Ramona Sakiestewa, American, Hopi Pueblo, born 1948". Birmingham Museum of Art. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  18. ^ "Katsina 21". Denver Art Museum. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  19. ^ "Textiles". Heard Museum. Retrieved 2026-03-01.
  20. ^ "Ramona Sakiestewa". New Mexico Museum of Art. Retrieved 2026-03-01.

Further reading

  • McCoy, Ron. Ramona Sakiestewa, 35th Anniversary Issue, American Indian Art Magazine, Winter 2010
  • Heppenheimer, Jill. Giving Voice to Creativity, Fiber Arts Magazine, 2007
  • Newman, Dana/Parsons, Jack. New Mexico Artists at Work, Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe, NM, p. 129 -131, 2005
  • Jacka, Lois and Jerry, Beyond Tradition, Contemporary Indian Art and Its Evolution, Northland Publishing Company, Flagstaff, AZ, p. 130-131, 1988
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.