Ramona Sakiestewa

Known for her tapestries, works on paper, public art, and architectural installations, Ramona Sakiestewa has written and lectured about Native American weaving and temporary art for over 30 years. Sakiestewa was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and studied at Verde Valley School in Sedona Arizona and Santa Fe Prep in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The land and sky of the American Southwest inform her artwork. A self-taught weaver, she has created her own tapestry work and her studio has woven the works of other contemporary artists that includes Paul Brach, Frank Lloyd Wright and Kenneth Noland. She has explored constructed works-on-paper, print work, and painting. Since the mid-1990s, Sakiestewa has worked with a series of nationally known architects designing elements for buildings and theming interiors using a variety of media including stone, metal, carpet, and glass. Some of these works can be seen at the Tempe Performing Arts Center in Arizona, Marriott Hotels in California and Washington DC, and the National Museum of the American Indian. She has lived and worked in New York City, Mexico City, Peru, Japan, China, Italy, and most recently, northern Iraq. She currently lives and works in Santa Fe New Mexico. Sakiestewa was a participating artist in the Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies in 2001. Among her awards are the 2006 New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and induction into the New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame in 2006. Today her work is in collections including the National Museum of American History, New Mexico Museum of Art, the Heard Museum, Denver Art Museum, and Saint Louis Art Museum.