Southwest Indian Art Fair

February 23 & 24, 2013, on the Museum's Front Lawn

2007 Featured Artist: Upton Ethelbah, Jr.

It took the right time, the right opportunity, and the right medium for Upton Ethelbah, Jr (a.k.a. Greyshoes) to find his calling as a fine artist. After a lifelong career of education and social work for Native Americans and other minorities in northern New Mexico, fate finally introduced him to the hammer and chisel.

In 1997, considering retirement at the age of 54, he fashioned his first piece of art from a 20 pound block of red and green Utah alabaster into a drum perched on kiva steps. The piece echoes his experiences as a Corn Dancer and Elk Dancer in Santa Clara Pueblo ceremonies. “One of the things that happens for Native artists like myself, when we create works of art that come from our traditions, is that there is a reinforcing cultural experience. Almost all Indians participate in their tribal customs and ceremonies. My sons and I do that at Santa Clara Pueblo. I’m able to draw from our traditions and utilize our symbols and images in my stone and bronze creations.” That first carved creation was given to his mother so that it would remain in the family and never be sold. Since that first piece, Ethelbah has been very prolific. His multi-award winning creations are aggressively sought after by national and international art collectors.

Ethelbah was born to a White Mountain Apache father (loosely translated, Ethelbah means Greyshoes in the Apache language) and a Santa Clara Pueblo mother. Raised with the ceremonies and arts of two proud cultures, the artist’s early careers nevertheless took him away from his traditions. He first served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam conflict as a dental technician and even played football with the Navy SEALs. Then, after graduating from the University of New Mexico in 1971, he embarked on a career in education and social work. Ethelbah served under three important institutions in New Mexico: the State Department of Education, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the All Indian Pueblo Council. Under the Council, he served as the director of student living at Santa Fe Indian School for 14 years, until his retirement in 1998.

Ethelbah says his new-found career as a sculptor makes him feel 18 years old again, “I am very fortunate to have come upon such an exciting second career in this lifetime. My goal is to continue working in stone for the next 30 years. At some time in the future, because of age, I may need to roll over to wood or clay, but my goal for now is to continue to work in stone.” Still, his artistic curiosity compels him to explore other media such as bronze casting. In 1999, his first bronze, taken from a mold of a soapstone and marble piece, won first place at the Indian and Spanish Art Market in Colorado Springs and third place at the Santa Fe Indian Market.

Eternally committed to education, Ethelbah continues to study and refine his craft by taking classes at the Poeh Center at New Mexico’s Pojoaque Pueblo. He also continues in his love of teaching by serving as a mentor to up and coming artists. When asked about his most significant work, he humbly says that the best experience for him as a sculptor was not the creation of a prize winner, but in teaching sculpture to the children of the Santa Clara Pueblo.

Ethelbah calls Santa Clara Pueblo home but he currently resides in Albuquerque to be near his 90-year-old father. He keeps very busy with his creative endeavors, his work at the Poeh Arts Center, and recently by serving as chair of the board for the Southwest Association for Indian Arts—the producers of the Santa Fe Indian Market. He also enjoys traveling to art shows all over the country with his two sons. Upton III is a graphic designer and musician in Albuquerque and Austin. Lucas Kwa-ay lives in Santa Fe, has a culinary arts degree, and is a musician as well.

Ethelbah can be very proud of his second career as an award-winning artist. He has certainly garnered a large following for his work, showing us all that it is never too late to explore one's inner self.

His amazing piece, Apache Mountain Spirit, originally carved from an 800 pound block of Italian marble, won the ASM Director's Choice Award of Excellence in 2006 and was featured on the 2007 poster for Arizona State Museum's Southwest Indian Art Fair.

All Featured Artists by Year

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