Zara Kriegstein

Muralist, painter, and printmaker Zara Kriegstein was born in West Berlin, Germany in 1952. In 1978, she received her Masters degree in painting from the Academy of Art in West Berlin. After graduating, she spent a year traveling and studying the art and cultures of Italy, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Malaysia, and Mexico. These travels helped Kriegstein decide to focus her work on the social and political issues throughout the history of mankind. In 1980, she moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, founding the Multi-Cultural Mural Group, a group that creates mural art from the research and exploration of themes of importance for the education and awareness of the people, seeing art as a part of the quality of life and as a function in society to stimulate a critical mind and an awareness of values. She died in August 2009. Her work has been included in national and international exhibitions and her murals can be found in locations including the Contemporary Art Museum in New Orleans, the New Mexico State Archives Building, and the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe.