For Master Artists, AAW, Staff, Other cohorts for displaying in Queries
Jihan Gearon is a Diné and Nahiłii (Black) painter from Old Sawmill, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation. She is Tódích’ií’nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for Nahiłii, and her maternal grandfather is Tł’ashchí’í (Red Bottom Clan). Working primarily in acrylic, Jihan creates paintings that emerge from dreams, meditation, sacred places, and Indigenous ways of knowing. Her work … Read more
Karen Begay learned to build traditional Navajo hogans from her grandfather,Tsinijinnie Nez Begay, who also taught her songs, prayers, ceremonies, and how to live off the land. While she has been building for many years, during the pandemic, she started building hogans for unsheltered Dine families. To her knowledge, she is the only female hogan-builder … Read more
Ruben Urrea Moreno is a multi-disciplinary Chicano artist born and raised in South Tucson, Arizona. His work focuses on narratives of human rights, political plights, and his own Mexican and indigenous heritage. His early artistic experience began with several years of being a member at Raíces Taller Gallery and Workshop. Professionally, Ruben has been a … Read more
Feng-Feng Yeh is a chef and multi-disciplinary artist. Yeh’s practice transforms diasporic historical narratives into impactful sensorial community activations. Utilizing food to create dynamic homes for intersectional stories, Yeh offers collective creative acts in the form of culinary experiences, installations, and large-scale public art as a means of cultural reclamation and empowerment against erasure. Yeh’s … Read more
Sophia brings more than a decade of marketing, events, and community engagement experience to her role as Director of Volunteers. Tucson Meet Yourself Festival helped her to grow from volunteer to director by connecting her to the exciting work of los tucsonenses. She leads with a collaborative spirit and an ability to build processes that work. … Read more
The Hopi are indigenous people inhabiting ancestral lands in Mesa, AZ. This land consists of nearly 4,000 square miles of high arid terrain in North Central Arizona. The main villages are on three rocky mesas, First Mesa, Second Mesa, and Third Mesa. The Hopi are deeply spiritual people and living in harmony with nature is at the … Read more
“Hello, my name is Mark Talayumptewa. I learned silver work through the mentorship of Gerald Lomaventema and Jerolyn Honwytewa. They both have shared their knowledge and experience, and I am grateful for the time they took to teach me the step-by-step processes of the art. They encouraged me to try, improve, and continue my efforts. Silversmithing … Read more
“I learned my art form as a little girl growing up watching my parents. My dad is a wood carver, he makes kachinas and my mom is a painter. My dad told me that in creating art I would have to speak to people and tell them what my pieces are about. Each piece I … Read more
“Greetings! My name is Homer Marks Jr. I am a carver/artist of Native American ancestry that is tied to the Hopi Tribe (Roadrunner & Greasewood clan) & the Tohono O’odham Tribe. I reside in a very small community 25 miles south of Sells, Arizona, located on the Tohono O’odham reservation with my family. I am married, a … Read more
“Hello, my name is Yvette Talaswaima. I am Qäö- Wungwa (corn clan) from the village of Musungnovi on Second Mesa. I have 3 daughters and 3 grandsons. I learned my art form from my husband Gerald Lomaventema in 2003. Gerald use to work at the Hopi Co-Op Guild and when it closed he started working out … Read more