Awa Tsireh

Awa Tsireh, (Feb 1, 1898 - May 1955), was a San Ildefonso Pueblo painter also known as Alfonso Roybal and Cattail Bird. Her parents were Alfonsita Martinez, a native potter, and Juan Estaba Roybal, the nephew of Cresencio Martinez.

Occupations

At various times in her life, Awa Tsireh was a farmer, a pottery painter, a museum employee, a painter, a silversmith and a muralist. One of her most notable artistic commissions was for a mural at Maisel's Indian Trading Post in Albuquerque, New Mexico where murals depicting Indian life, painted by Pueblo and Navajo artists, were prominently displayed.

Media

Tsireh worked in watercolor and in transparent colored ink and pencil. She also created silver and gemstone pieces of art. Awa Tsireh painted in 3 different styles; a simple realism, a combination of symbolism and realism, and a completely non-realistic style. per Samuels' Encyclopedia of Artists of the American West, (1968)

Articles

• New York Times, Sept 6, 1925.
• St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 5, 1933

Awards

• EITA, Exposition of Indian Tribal Arts, sponsored by the College Art Association, 1931–33
• SWAIA, Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs, Santa Fe, New Mexico
• AIW, American Indian Week, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Honors

• Palmes d' Academiques, 1954 from the French Government.
• ^[1] (BDNAP) The Biographical Directory of Native American Painters

References