About - Ramona Sakiestewa

Ramona Sakiestewa grew up in the American Southwest where the land and sky informed her artwork. For over 30 years she has written and lectured about Native American weaving and contemporary art including a USIA Lecture tour of Japan.

In addition to her own tapestry work, her studio has woven the works of other contemporary artists that includes Paul Brach, Frank Lloyd Wright and Kenneth Noland. Her own weavings reside in numerous corporate, private, and museum collections.

Recently she has changed media and is exploring constructed works-on-paper, print work and painting. She has shown her work nationally in numerous group and solo exhibitions.

Concurrently for the last twenty years, Sakiestewa has worked with a series of nationally known architects designing elements for buildings and theming interiors. She has worked in a variety of media including stone, metal, carpet, and glass. Some of her work can be seen at the Tempe Performing Arts Center, Tempe AZ, Marriott Hotels in California and Washington DC, and the National Museum of the American Indian, Mall Museum, Washington, DC.

Travel continues to inspire Sakiestewa’s artistic work. She has lived and worked in New York City, Mexico City, Peru, Japan, China, Italy, and most recently, northern Iraq. She lives and works in Santa Fe New Mexico.

Sakiestewa was a participating artist in the Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies in 2001. In 2006 Ramona was awarded the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts and was inducted into the New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2007 the New Mexico Committee, of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, honored her.

Select Art/Design Projects

2013–present: Designing a line of homeware products and accessories
2008–2011: Kurdistan Regional Government, Statistics Office, Erbil, Iraq: Design cultural theming, consultant to Bayberry International, Easton, MD. Designed architectural elements for the building based on Kurdish art and culture.
2006–2007: Gila River Health Care Corporation, Tucson, Arizona: Designed flooring and other architectural elements for the new hospital building based ontribal cultural values.Johnson, Smitthipong and Rosamond Architects, Tucson, AZ.
2005–2007: Marriott Residence Inn, Sacramento, CA: Design consultant to developer (Christopher Corporation, Three Fires, and Marriott Hotels) and interior designer (Johnson Braund Design Group) for design themes and artwork for planned business hotel.
2002–2007: Tempe Center for the Performing Arts, Tempe, Arizona: Public Art project; one of three artists designing artwork integrated with the building. Designed 7800 sq.ft of custom carpet for the center. Barton Myers, Architect, Los Angeles, CA.
2002–2005: Marriott Residence Inn, Washington, DC: Design consultant to developer (Donohoe Corporation) and interior designer (BBGM) for design themes and artwork for planned business hotel
2002–2004: Chickasaw Cultural Center, Sulphur, Oklahoma: Designed outdoor interactive site installations based on tribal histories/stories for a new cultural center for the Chickasaw Nation. Designed with Andrew Merriell & Associates, Interpretive Planning & Design, Santa Fe, NM and Overland Partners, Architects, San Antonio, TX
1993–2004: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC: Member of the Architectural Design Team for the National Mall Museum building; with architects GBQC, Philadelphia, PA; Polshek & Associates, NY; SmithGroup, Washington, DC; Jones and Jones, Seattle, WA; landscape architect EDAW, Washington, DC; Master planning, created design vocabulary representing 500 tribes for use by the Architectural Design Team, exhibit design team and interior designers. Designed the “Entry Plaza Birthdate”, Potomac Solstic and Equinox markers, “Copper Screen Wall”, elevator cabs, Ceremonial Front Doors and pulls, theater curtain, and other architectural elements.

Solo Exhibitions

2016: “Ramona Sakiestewa: Highlighting Print Work – Tangram Butterflies and Katsinas,” Del Norte Credit Union, Santa Fe, NM
2014: “Tangram Butterfly and Other Shapes,” Tai Modern, Santa Fe, NM
2008: “Vortex of Color,” Eight Modern, Santa Fe, NM
2006: Nicole Fiacco Gallery, Hudson, NY
2002: “Cultural Colors: Fiber Art and Drawings by Ramona Sakiestewa,” Heard Museum North, Carefree, AZ
1997: “Ramona Sakiestewa/Recent Acquisitions,” Heard Museum, Phoenix AZ
1995: “Patterns of the Southwest, Tapestries by Ramona Sakiestewa, The Perspective Series,” John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
1993: “Between the Four Sacred Mountains: Contemporary Weavings of Ramona Sakiestewa,” Museum of the Southwest, Pasadena, CA
1991: “Ramona Sakiestewa/Frank Lloyd Wright, Themes and Variations,” The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ. Tapestries by Ramona Sakiestewa Ltd. for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, Taliesin West, AZ
1989: “Ramona Sakiestewa/Patterned Dreams,” Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, NM

Select Group Exhibitions

2015-16: “Woven Together: Celebrating Grandmother Spider Woman in Contemporary Native American Art,” select venues in Russia, curated by Dr. Suzanne Frick of Santa Fe University of Art and Design
2013: “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico – Architecture, Katsinam and the Land,” Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO and Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM; Accompanying catalogue: Barbara Buhler Lynes and Carolyn Kastner, “Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico – Architecture, Katsinam and the Land.” Museum of New Mexico Press, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, NM.Essay contribution: Ramona Sakiestewa,Katsinam:Memories and Reflections,” p.127-129, 2013.
2012: “Shapeshifting”-Transformations in Native American Art,” Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Accompanying catalogue: Karen Kramer Russell, “Shapeshifting – Transformations in Native American Art,” Yale University Press, p. 36, 58-59, 2012
2007: “East Meets West,” 8 Modern, Santa Fe, NM; “Nebula: The Reflection Series,” LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2006: “Breaking the Mold,” opening exhibition, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
2004: “NDN ART,” Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM; Accompanying catalogue: Suzanne Deats and Charlene Touchette, NDN ART, Contemporary Native American Art”, Fresco Fine Art Publications, LLC, Albuquerque,NM,p. 80-85, 2004
2002: “Changing Hands,” American Craft Museum, New York, NY; Accompanying catalogue: David Revere McFadden, Ellen Napiura Taubman, and Holly Hotchner, “Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, Contemporary Native American Art from the Southwest“, Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. p. 94, 2002

Select Collections

: Friends of Art and Preservation in Embassies, Washington, DC (artwork purchased for the American Embassy in Uganda); Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY; The Mint Museum of Craft & Design, Charlotte, NC; The Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; The Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ; The Newark Museum, Newark, NJ; Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH; The Clay Center, Charleston, WV; Museum of Albuquerque, Albuquerque, NM; The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, NM; St. Louis Museum of Art, St. Louis, MO; National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; The Kennedy Museum of American Art, Athens, OH; Mobil Corporations, Dallas, TX; Neutrogena Collection, Los Angeles, CA (artworks purchased for corporate offices in the US and Europe); Sundance Collection, Provo, UT; University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA; University of New Mexico, Johnson Gallery, Albuquerque, NM; Avalon Trust Collection, Santa Fe, NM; Numerous Private Collections

Select Awards and Fellowships

2016: “Chaco Heritage: Contemporary Native American Artists Explore Ancient Traditions,” an National Endowment for the Arts funded fellowship at the University of New Mexico, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and World Heritage Site Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico.
2007: “Originals” 2007 Honored Artist, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
2006: Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Santa Fe, NM; Governor’s Outstanding New Mexico Woman’s Award, Santa Fe, NM; Inductee, New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame, Albuquerque, NM
2001: Recognition as a participatory artist, “Gift to the Nation,” Friends of the Art & Preservation of Embassies, Washington, DC
1992: Metropolitan Home Award “Top 500 Designs,” for design of Pendleton Limited Edition Blankets, New York, NY
1991: One-month lecture tour to 9 cities in Japan, United States Information Agency

Select Publications

2012

Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico: Architecture, Katsinam, and the Land, Barbara Buhler Lynes and Carolyn Kastner, Museum of New Mexico Press.
This book accompanied the exhibition of the same name, which was curated and travelled by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The exhibition toured with fifty-three works created by Georgia O’Keeffe between 1931 and 1945. Ramona Sakiestewa wrote an essay for the book, “Katsinam: Memories and Reflections.”

Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art, Karen Kramer (Russell) et al, Yale University Press.
The book/catalog accompanied the exhibition of the same name, organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts. Ramona Sakiestewa’s tapestry diptych Nebula 22 and 23, on loan from the Carl and Marilynn collection, was in both the exhibition and the publication.

Light Echo, Ramona Sakiestewa

2010

Gloria F. Ross & Modern Tapestry, Anne Lane Hedlund, Yale University Press, and in association with the Arizona State Museum, The University of Arizona, Tucson
A comprehensive book on the work of Gloria Frankenthaler Ross (1923-1998) who chose weavers in France, Scotland, and the United States to weave the works of modernist and contemporary artists of her day, including her sister Helen Frankenthaler.Ramona Sakiestewa and her atelier wove six tapestry works designed by contemporary artist Kenneth Noland, which are included in this volume.

2004

Spirit of Native Place Building the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian, Washington DC, in association with National Geographic, Edited by Duane Blue Spruce. Published on the occasion of the opening of the Museum September 21, 2004.

Artist, Ramona Sakiestewa, was a contributing designer on the architectural team for ten years and wrote a contributing essay for this publication “Making our World Understandable.”

2002

Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 1, Contemporary Native American Art from the Southwest by David Revere McFadden and Ellen Napiura Taubman, Merrell Publishers Limited, London, United Kingdom, 2002.
Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name for the American Craft Museum, New York, New York.This was a groundbreaking exhibition for the American Craft Museum, featuring ninety contemporary Native American artists from the Southwest. It included two tapestries from the Migration Series by Ramona Sakiestewa.

1989

Ramona Sakiestewa Patterned Dreams: Textiles of the Southwest by Suzanne Baizerman, Ph.D., 1989.
The catalogue was published on the occasion of the exhibition at the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The exhibit was a solo exhibition of over 15 of Ramona’s weavings and her design inspiration materials.