Dream Songs #1, 2007, 19″ x 20″, Mixed media

Born in San Francisco, California in 1937, Frank LaPena (Nomtipom Wintu) attended federal Indian boarding school in Stewart, Nevada. Interest in the arts began in high school and continued through college. His paintings and sculpture reflect a deep interest and appreciation of his native heritage, and he shares this with his students as professor of art and director of Native American studies at California State University, Sacramento.

LaPena, an internationally exhibited painter and published poet, was born in 1937 in San FrancProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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co. As a young man he became interested in the song, dance, and ceremonial traditions of his tribe. He has worked with the elders of the Nomtipom Wintu, the Nomlaki Wintun of northern California, and elders of neighboring tribes, and is a founding member of the Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists, dedicated to the revival and preservation of these Native arts.

LaPena lectured widely on Native American traditional and cultural issues, emphasizing California traditions, and he is a professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento. His art has been exhibited since 1960 in twenty-two one-man exhibits and numerous group shows across the United States, Europe, Central and South America, Cuba, Australia, and New Zealand. He has been a consultant to museums across the country including the de Young, the Oakland Museum of California, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. He lives in Sacramento and is still active in ceremonial life as a singer and dance leader.

Since 1960 he has exhibited in twenty-two one-man shows and numerous group shows across the United States, Europe, Central and South America, Cuba, Australia and New Zealand. He is a consultant to museums including the De Young, the Oakland Museum, the California Indian Museum and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian. LaPena has also published several volumes of poetry and writes a report on contemporary California art activities for News from Native California.

Gift of Life, 2007, 31″ x 31″, Acrylic on canvas