Linda Lomahaftewa
Encyclopedia
Linda Lomahaftewa is a Hopi
and Choctaw
printmaker, painter, and educator living in Santa Fe, New Mexico
.
. Her parents had met at an Indian boarding school. Her late father was Hopi, her mother, who lives in Arizona, is Choctaw from Oklahoma. She and her family lived in Phoenix and Los Angeles, California
.
She attended a strict mission boarding school in 1961 but hated it and was able to transfer to Phoenix Indian School
, then the Institute of American Indian Arts
in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1962, the year the school opened. Upon graduation from IAIA, Linda earned a scholarship to attend the San Francisco Art Institute
in San Francisco, California
, along with fellow artists, T.C. Cannon, Kevin Red Star
, and Bill Prokopiof. Of the four, only Linda graduated from SFAI. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts degrees at SFAI in 1971.
Although best known for her printmaking, Ribbon Shirt, her contribution to the major traveling exhibit, Indian Humor, is a typical contemporary ribbon shirt bedecked with an array of medals, buttons, and award ribbons from various Native American art shows.
in Phoenix; the American Indian Community House in New York City; and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
in Santa Fe.
She was listed in the 8th Edition of the International Who's Who
in 1984. Her work can be found in such public collections at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico; the US Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Washington, DC; the Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko, Oklahoma; the University of Lethbridge
, Alberta, Canada; the Native American Center for the Living Arts, Niagara Falls, New York; and the Center for the Arts of Indian America, Washington, DC.
Linda began teaching at Sonoma State University
and later at the University of California, Berkeley
. In 1976, she accepting a position teaching two-dimensional studio arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, where she still teaches today.
“I’m happy that I’m recognized as a Native woman artist,” she was quoted as saying. “And that I’m still doing work after all this time. A lot of people give up."
are internationally known Choctaw beadworkers.
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
and Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
printmaker, painter, and educator living in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
.
Background
Linda J. Lomahaftewa was born July 3, 1947 in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. Her parents had met at an Indian boarding school. Her late father was Hopi, her mother, who lives in Arizona, is Choctaw from Oklahoma. She and her family lived in Phoenix and Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
She attended a strict mission boarding school in 1961 but hated it and was able to transfer to Phoenix Indian School
Phoenix Indian School
The Phoenix Indian School, or Phoenix Indian High School in its later years, was a Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated school in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. It was mostly a high school, but it served lower grades from 1891 to 1935. It opened in 1891 and closed in 1990 at the orders of the federal...
, then the Institute of American Indian Arts
Institute of American Indian Arts
The Institute of American Indian Arts is a college focused on Native American art. It is situated in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is congressionally chartered, and was created by an executive order of former American President John F. Kennedy in 1962...
in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1962, the year the school opened. Upon graduation from IAIA, Linda earned a scholarship to attend the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, along with fellow artists, T.C. Cannon, Kevin Red Star
Kevin Red Star
Kevin Red Star is a Native American artist. He was born and lives in Lodge Grass, Montana and is a member of the Crow tribe.-His Education:*San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California*Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana...
, and Bill Prokopiof. Of the four, only Linda graduated from SFAI. After earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts degrees at SFAI in 1971.
Artwork
Dawn Reno writes of Linda's work that, "She unites the ancient Indian world with the contemporary in her modernistic paintings and has done a series of abstract landscapes which are considered the most powerful in her body of work." Of her own art, she writes that her "imagery comes from being Hopi and remembering shapes and colors from ceremonies and from landscape. I associate a special power and respect, a sacredness, with these colors and shapes, and this carries over into my work."Although best known for her printmaking, Ribbon Shirt, her contribution to the major traveling exhibit, Indian Humor, is a typical contemporary ribbon shirt bedecked with an array of medals, buttons, and award ribbons from various Native American art shows.
Career and honors
She has participated in innumerable group and solo exhibits including those at the American Indian Contemporary Art gallery in San Francisco; the Heard MuseumHeard Museum
The Heard Museum of Native Cultures and Art is a museum located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. There is also the Heard Museum North Scottsdale branch in Scottsdale and the Heard Museum West branch in Surprise....
in Phoenix; the American Indian Community House in New York City; and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian is a museum devoted to Native American arts. It is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and medicine man....
in Santa Fe.
She was listed in the 8th Edition of the International Who's Who
International Who's Who
The International Who's Who is a Who's Who reference book to notable people worldwide. It has been published annually since 1935 by Europa Publications, from 2000 by Routledge an imprint of the UK publishing group Taylor and Francis....
in 1984. Her work can be found in such public collections at the Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona; the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico; the US Department of the Interior, Indian Arts and Crafts Board, Washington, DC; the Southern Plains Indian Museum, Anadarko, Oklahoma; the University of Lethbridge
University of Lethbridge
The University of Lethbridge is a publicly-funded comprehensive academic and research university, founded in the liberal education tradition, located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with two other urban campuses in Calgary and Edmonton. The main building sits among the coulees on the west side of...
, Alberta, Canada; the Native American Center for the Living Arts, Niagara Falls, New York; and the Center for the Arts of Indian America, Washington, DC.
Linda began teaching at Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University
Sonoma State University is a public, coeducational business and liberal arts college affiliated with the California State University system. The main campus is located in Rohnert Park, California, United States and lies approximately south of Santa Rosa and north of San Francisco...
and later at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. In 1976, she accepting a position teaching two-dimensional studio arts at the Institute of American Indian Arts, where she still teaches today.
“I’m happy that I’m recognized as a Native woman artist,” she was quoted as saying. “And that I’m still doing work after all this time. A lot of people give up."
Personal
Linda has a son, Logan L. Slock, and a daughter, Tatiana Lomahaftewa Singer, who is a curator of contemporary Native arts. Her brother, the late Dan Lomahaftewa (1951–2005), was also a celebrated artist. Her first cousins, Roger and Marcus AmermanMarcus Amerman
Marcus Amerman is an award-winning Choctaw bead artist, glass artist, painter, fashion designer, and performance artist, living north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is known for his highly realistic beadwork portraits.-Background:...
are internationally known Choctaw beadworkers.
External links
- Indyke, Dottie. Linda Lomahaftewa. Southwest Art
- Abbott, Lawrence. Linda Lomahaftewa: Hopi-Choctaw. I Stand in the Center of the Good. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
- Linda Lomahaftewa, Vision Project, by Jennifer C. Vigil