Amado Pena's TESOROS DEL PUEBLO Selected as Poster for 25th Litchfield Park Native American Fine Arts Festival

Renowned artist Amado Peña's "Mestizo Series: Tesoros del Pueblo" has been selected as the poster art for The Gathering, the 25th anniversary of the Litchfield Park Native American Fine Arts Festival, Jan. 14-15, 2017 in the center of Litchfield Park.

The piece, defined by Peña's classic use of bold color and form and dynamic composition, features five Native American women seated near a Santa Fe-style mission, one weaving a blanket and the others either displaying or painting traditional pottery.

"The work represents tribes that are in the Southwest but may not be apparent in the Phoenix area where we have river and desert tribes along with the Navajo, Hopi, apache and others," explaiNEd Donovan Hanley, a Navajo who works for the Arizona American Indian Tourism Association and is a member of the Litchfield Park Native American Fine Arts Festival organizing committee. "I'm personally attracted to the painting because it captures life at a pueblo and incorporates so many elements of Native American art and culture."

Hanley also helps organize the Festival's education component through which "we bring artists from the tribes at the Festival to the education area to provide insight into their cultures and their artwork," he said.

Peña's submission was one of ten considered by the organizing committee for use as the official poster, according to Litchfield Park Special Events Coordinator Tricia Kramer. "This was not an easy decision because of the incredible diversity, creativity and reflection that each piece presented," she said.

Peña, born in Laredo, Texas in 1943, is a Mestizo of Mexican and Yaqui ancestry. His art celebrates the strength of a people who meet the harsh realities of life in an uncompromising land, and his work is a tribute to the Native Americans who survive by living in harmony with an adversarial, untamed environment.

His artwork is inspired by places such as Canyon de Chelly, Spider Rock, Monument Valley, Enchanted Mesa, Acoma and Black Mesa. These sites are part of an enduring landscape that speaks of the ancient heritage of a region now known as Arizona and New Mexico.

Through his art, he communicates his vision of a land, its people and their art.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Litchfield Park Native American Fine Arts Festival, featuring more than 100 of the finest Native American artist and artisans in the Southwest, the event is free to the public.

The Gathering has been moved to the center of Litchfield Park along Old Litchfield Road south of Wigwam Blvd. and adjacent to the Litchfield Park Library at 101 W. Wigwam Blvd. The event is sponsored by The Wigwam Resort, City of Litchfield Park, the Heard Museum, Cachet at The Wigwam, the National Endowment for the Arts and the City of Litchfield Park.

For more information, visit www.litchfieldparkgathering.com.

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