ARTIST BIO

After having earned a B.A. in Classics from the University of New Mexico, Mr. Tafoya went on to receive a Masters of Divinity from the Harvard Divinity School. In addition to being awarded the Frank Lawton Cady Scholarship, the Harvard Divinity School Faculty honored Mr. Tafoya with the prestigious Hopkins Share, an award from a charity established under the will of Edward Hopkins, former governor of Connecticut. Mr. Tafoya was awarded a summer 1993 Native American Program Internship at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institute, where he conducted research in residence. Mr. Tafoya’s primary interests have been and continue to be Greek and Roman Culture and History; Classicism and Neo-Classicism in art; Cultural Studies; and how Classicism influenced the representation of Native Americans.

Mr. Tafoya was the U.S. Editorial Consultant for the children’s book Native Americans by Fiona MacDonald (ISBN: 0721457185) for which he made editorial comments and suggestions on both the art and text and made suggestions of changes of art and layout. Because of his contribution, this book avoided reasserting false stereotypes so prevalent in children's books.

Mr. Tafoya also has an extensive background in graphic and web design, and has worked for individuals, businesses and non-profit organizations in that capacity. Mr. Tafoya cut his teeth as a Production Artist for Spier NY doing book advertisements for major publishers such as Dell, Penguin, Doubleday, Viking & Bantam; and Sid Paterson (Spa) Advertising doing automotive retail advertisements for major car dealerships in New York and around the United States. As a Graphic Designer at J&R Computer World he designed and produced newspaper advertisements for the New York Daily News, the New York Post, USA Today, the New York Times and the Village Voice, as well as magazine advertisements for Rolling Stone, Scientific America, Time Out New York and GQ. He also designed and produced catalogues, in-store banner ads, business cards, and various other signage.

Before coming to work full-time with AMERINDA, Inc., Mr. Tafoya worked as a technical and design consultant for the organization since 1998, where he designed all printed materials such as business cards, letterhead, posters et cetera, the Talking Stick Native Arts Quarterly, as well as the AMERINDA website. His most current work has been the creation of web pages for The Reawakening, a dramatic feature film supported by AMERINDA, and the design and production of web pages for the AMERINDA Native American Artist Roster. Mr. Tafoya also designed the opening sequence logo for the feature film The Reawakening.

Mr. Tafoya has created and maintained websites for such clients as the American Academy of Pet Grooming, Queen of Salt Foundation, Therese Mahar Artist Representative, and Girls Career Workshop.

Patrick Tafoya’s greatest influence upon his work has always been Classical aesthetics, whether it be from the Golden Age of Greece, the rediscovery of the Pagan Gods/Classics in the Renaissance, Neo-Classicism or the reappropriation of Classicism in Postmodern Art. His design philosophy is simplicity, balance and minimalism work best, with the technology hidden in the background.

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