Zuni Art In An Old Catholic Mission
DavidEric
the area of Native
American history, art and culture.
While recently on vacation in Arizona and New Mexico, we met Mr. Alex
Seowtewa, a Zuni
gentleman who has spent the last 24 years (!) painting full size murals of
Zuni spiritual
beings (Kokko) on the inside walls of the old Catholic Mission at the
Pueblo of Zuni (circa
1629). The murals which he is painting are an incredible sight, especially
in the context of
the Mission. Mr. Seowtewa's murals have been the subject of PBS television
documentaries
which have been seen all over the world, and Mr. Seowtewa lectures on
occasion at colleges,
etc..
Typical of the modern world, however, Mr. Seowtewa is having bureaucratic
problems (!).
Specifically, the (regional?) Board which controls disbursement of the
funds from Mr.
Seowtewa's National Endowment for the Arts grant has apparently not
released the balance of
his grant.
While the reasons for this are not clear, there is some thought that
perhaps this Board feels
that Mr. Seowtewa is taking "too long" with the project. Thus, despite his
current health
problems Mr. Seowtewa and his son (his assistant) now have to seek other
work on the Pueblo
to simply enable them to support their families while carrying on his
life's work of painting
these murals.
We actually have a good friend who worked for the Zuni Pueblo for two
years as part of the
Zuni Archeology Program. After our return, he called people who he knows
at Zuni, and they
confirmed both the high value placed on Mr. Seowtewa's work and the
puzzlement with the
current financial problems which have apparently been imposed upon Mr.
Seowtewa by the Board
administering his NEA grant.
We feel very fortunate to have met Mr. Seowtewa, his son, and his wife;
to have seen his
paintings; and to have heard him speak about Zuni history and his work. We
recommend a
visit to Mr. Seowtewa at the Zuni Mission to anyone interested in a rich
experience at a
point of contact of several cultures. We have decided to try to help Mr.
Seowtewa in whatever
ways we can.
Both direct contributions to Mr. Seowtewa (P.O. Box 203, Zuni, NM 87327),
and any
perspectives on helping to free up his NEA grant money would be welcome.
Also, I have a copy
of an article about Mr. Seowtewa and his work, taken from "Zuni History:
Victories in the
1990's" (a product of the Zuni History Newspaper Project). The full
publication is
available at the Zuni Pueblo, or from The Institute of the North American
West, 110 Cherry
Suite, Suite 202, Seattle, WA 98104. I would be glad to send a copy of
this article to
anyone who requests it.
We hope that you will share our interest in supporting Mr. Seowtewa and
his important work.
Sincerely yours,
David and Tammy Rosenthal
P.O. Box 280
Basking Ridge, NJ 07920-0280
DavidEric
(DavidEric) writes:
Thus, despite his current health problems, Mr. Seowtewa and his son (his