Joseph M. Sanchez (born ca. 1948) is an

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Early life

Sanchez was born in

Trinidad, Colorado Trinidad is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Las Animas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 8,329 as of the 2020 census. Trinidad lies north of Raton, New Mexico, and s ...

. He has roots in the

White Mountain Apache The Fort Apache Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation on the border of New Mexico and Arizona, United States, encompassing parts of Navajo, Gila, and Apache counties. It is home to the federally recognized White Mountain Apache Tribe of th ...

Reservation and

Taos Pueblo Taos Pueblo (or Pueblo de Taos) is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking (Tiwa) Native American tribe of Puebloan people. It lies about north of the modern city of Taos, New Mexico. The pueblos are considered to be one of the oldest c ...

communities.

Career

Sanchez has been a leader in

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

and

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

arts since the 1970s, and has collaborated with multiple artists. This co-creation has included creating work, exhibitions, and advocating for the rights of minority artists. This is seen most importantly in his work with the Professional Native Indian Artists (

Indian Group of Seven The Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation (PNIAI), informally known as the Indian Group of Seven, was a group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations artists from Canada, with one from the United States. Founded in November 1973, they ...

). Sanchez had artistic aspirations from an early age, becoming interested in art and painting in 5th grade. He became more serious about pursuing an art career when he met

Daphne Odjig Daphne Odjig, D.Litt LL. D. (September 11, 1919 – October 1, 2016), was a Canadian First Nations artist of Odawa-Potawatomi-English heritage. Her paintings are often characterized as Woodlands Style or as the pictographic style. She was the ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

in the early 1970s. Odjig mentored and invited him to participate in what became the Indian Group of Seven. Sanchez serves as Chief Curator at the Portage College's Museum of Aboriginal Peoples' Art & Artifacts, in Lac La Biche, Alberta. This museum houses a permanent collection dedicated to the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Sanchez and

Alex Janvier Alex Simeon Janvier, LL.D (; born February 28, 1935) is a First Nation artist in Canada. As a member of the commonly referred to " Indian Group of Seven", Janvier is a pioneer of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal art in Canada. Career Alex Janv ...

took part in the opening of the collection in 2018. Sanchez states that "I mostly paint from a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

point of view. We need to protect women." Since retirement, Sanchez has continued to curate, but primarily returned to the studio full-time, and continues to exhibit in galleries and museums internationally. He lives in Santa Fe, N.M.

Awards

*2006, Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts: Alan Houser Memorial Award.

Exhibitions

*1975 Dominion Gallery, Montreal, Quebec (see

) *1975 Wallack Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario *1975 Art Emporium, Vancouver, B.C. *1990s Spirits of the Sun exhibition in Phoenix *2009 Perversions of the Curator:a minor retrospective February 13 – March 15, 2009 *2014-2016 7: Professional Native Indian Artists, Inc., touring exhibition *2017 Indigenous Changemakers: Ace, Belmore, Davidson, Houle, Morrisseau, Poitras, Sánchez *2017 Anamesis: Joseph M. Sanchez and Janice Tanton *2018 Portage College's Museum of Aboriginal Peoples' Art & Artifacts, Lac La Biche, Alberta *2019 El Zaguan Historic Santa Fe Foundation

Publications

Sanchez's work is featured in the book Professional Native Indian Artists: Group of Seven. The book was published as an exhibition catalog for a show presented at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina; and traveled to the Art Gallery of Windsor, Winnipeg Art Gallery, McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario, Kelowna Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Alberta.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanchez, Joseph Institute of American Indian Arts Living people 20th-century American painters American male painters Native American curators 21st-century American painters Painters from New Mexico Taos Pueblo 1940s births 20th-century American male artists