Famed for blending the Hispanic carving tradition with contemporary commentary, Santa Fe santero Luis Tapia has won the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
The National Endowment of the Arts honor includes an award of $25,000.
Tapia is one of nine national recipients of the award.
“For nearly five decades, Tapia has helped to revitalize and transform the art of the santero (saint-maker) – a centuries-old Hispanic tradition practiced in New Mexico and southern Colorado – through efforts such as reintroducing color and crafting social critiques into his modern-day santos (saints),” the NEA’s Allison Hill stated.
Tapia got the news via a voicemail from Sen. Ben Ray Luján, Democrat.
“I was sort of in shock,” Tapia said in a telephone interview. “It’s something you don’t expect. I didn’t get into this field to get awards.”
From a carving of jailed children he labeled “Trump Day Care,” to a Statue of Liberty painted with the faces of immigrants called “Broken Promises,” Tapia has long combined politics with traditional Hispanic carving.
His work can be found in a treasury of museum collections: the Albuquerque Museum, the Museum of International Folk Art, the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Smithsonian.
Tapia began his career in Santa Fe’s Spanish Market before he was asked to leave in the 1980s for producing nontraditional work.
“I only lasted four or five years,” he said. “I started experimenting with the colors, making it brighter. One of the pieces was a Noah’s ark. It’s traditional, but it’s not in New Mexico. They told me to move on, so I did. It was tough.”
He began showing his work at markets in Albuquerque, El Paso, Utah and at the Smithsonian.
“The social commentary developed because I was tired of making St. Francis 150 times,” he said. “I started to realize there was a lot of social commentary in every religious piece.”
Tapia dropped out of the gallery circuit five years ago because he craved independence. Today he relies on museum representation, word-of-mouth and a soon-to-be-released catalog.
As for the $25,000, he says, “It’s already spent,” with a laugh. “It goes back into the shop. You upgrade your tools, then you buy tools you don’t really need. And then, maybe a couple of bottles of tequila – the expensive ones.
“I’m going to be 73 years old,” he added, “so I’ve been doing this for 50 years. Maybe they want me to retire.”
The Arts Endowment has awarded 477 National Heritage Fellowships since 1982, recognizing artists working in more than 200 distinct art forms. Past recipients have included bluegrass fiddler Michael Cleveland, Japanese classical dancer Gertrude Yukie Tsutsumi, Haudenosaunee-raised beadworker Karen Ann Hoffman (Oneida Nation of Wisconsin), oud player and composer Rahim AlHaj, and radio producer and radio network builder Hugo N. Morales.
Fellowship recipients are nominated by the public, often by members of their own communities, and then judged by a panel of experts in the folk and traditional arts. The panel’s recommendations are reviewed by the National Council on the Arts, which sends its recommendations to the chair of the NEA, who makes the final decision.
Visit the National Endowment for the Arts website, arts.gov, for more information.
