Provided By Maria Almeida Natividad
Artist- Educator
Each culture has treasures found in their traditions, language, food, music, dance and customs. Our Mexican-American, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano culture, call it as you may, is rich in cultural treasures. One of them is the celebration of the culture through dance and music and what a delight it is to experience the music and dance of the folklorico tradition. These two beautiful sisters are engaged in preparation for their next baile folklorico dance performance and are eager to share their love of the dance with others. These young dancers are continuing the traditions of our ancestors and giving voice to those that came before us and honoring their past, present and future with memorable song, dance and colorful apparel. I use family and friends for my subjects and the two folklorico dancers are my nieces, they are actual sisters and folklorico dancers. Featured on this page, is another painting that is very popular as a poster and it is my grandson in a Mexican bakery trying to decide which delicious pan dulce he’s going to buy.
Maria Almeida Natividad is a professional artist and educator living in El Paso, Texas. She holds a BA and MA degree in Art Education from the University of Texas at El Paso and has over 25 years of experience teaching art in the public schools. Maria grew up surrounded by the rich culture and heritage of her Hispanic background. It is an understanding and appreciation of this culture and history that she wishes to convey and encourage in her artwork, books and teaching. Her artwork has appeared in Chicano art books, literary anthologies, Chapbooks and Chicano/a calendars. She was featured in the books “West Texas Women Artists: A Celebration” published by Texas Tech University Press, “Desert Modern and Beyond” published by the El Paso Museum of Art and “Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art” published by the Bilingual Press of ASU to name a few. Her art has been included in numerous major art exhibitions and public and private collections across the United States. Maria is presently the Artist in Residence for Chicano Studies at the University of Texas at El Paso and owner of Galeria del Sol in El Paso, Texas.
