CHAC

"I can always feed my body, but my artwork feeds my soul"- Carlos Santistevan

Born in Denver, Colorado, Carlos has began woodcarving as a young child; he remembers carving toys with his mother's paring knife at age 7. As a young man he took up welding and began crafting his santos in metal. He now works with a variety of materials include found objects which is why his colleagues use the term “ecological art” to describe his work.
 
From time honored traditional styles to sensational contemporary pieces, the body of art produced by Carlos is memorable for its range of influences and cultural sensitivity. He uses traditional gesso, varnishes, vegetable and earth based pigments in his bultos, santos and retablos, as well as water based paints and water colors. The results are a timeless expression in color and customs balanced by an introspective modern perspective that has defined the career of Carlos Santistevan.

"Carlos Santistevan is and isn't a folk artist, but no matter which angle you approach his work from, he's wonderful. His shrines and santos, though imbued with personal meaning, are traditionally authentic in appearance yet created from a modern sensibility that knows the difference between high and low art. As a result, Santistevan's work falls between two extremes, dishing out culturally driven sweetness and keen political comment with a single image."
 

Carlos Santistevan founded and directed ‘El Grito de Aztlan Gallery’ the first Chicano Art Gallery in Denver from 1968-1973 and was also one of the founders and the first Executive Director of CHAC. Carlos Sanisteven was the first Colorado santero to be accepted into Spanish Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1977. His metal sculpture of Santo Niño de Atocha is owned by the Smithsonian Institution. He has also been the dean of Colorado Santeros (Thomas J. Steele, S.J. author of Santos and Saints: the Regional Folk Art of Hispanic New Mexico).

Permanent Collections:

• Millicent Rogers Museum –Taos New Mexico
• Museum of International Folk Art-Santa Fe New Mexico
• National Museum of American Art- Smithsonian Institute Washington, D.C.
• Regis University- Denver, Colorado

Awards:

• 1999- Heritage Award-Master Folk Artist Colorado Council on the Arts –Denver, Colorado.
• 2002- Masters Lifetime Achievement Award Spanish Colonial Art Society-Santa Fe New Mexico.
  

Publications:

• Contemporary Chicana & Chicano Art : Artists, Works, Culture and Education
• Chicano Art for Our Millenium
  
• Triuph of our Communities: Four decades of Mexican American Art