Fernando Padilla, Junior. is a Native American artist.
Background
His father was full blood San Felipe Pueblo and his mother is Navajo and Apache. Padilla was born in Huntington Park, California. He grew up in various places in New Mexico and Arizona due to his father"s job with the United States. Forestry Service.
Education
Padilla graduated from Rio Grande High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976. He attended college in Albuquerque, New Mexico and later transferred to Bethany Nazarene College in Bethany, Oklahoma in 1978.
Career
Padilla is enrolled with the San Felipe Pueblo and is listed as half San Felipe Pueblo and half Navajo. He moved to Oklahoma in 1978 and still lives there to date. Best known for his painting of the Southwestern landscape and Pueblo life, Padilla also creates multi-dimensional artwork, sculpture and jewelry.
“Spirit of the People” – Denver International Airport (Permanent Exhibit) Selected as one of ten artists by Western American Indian Chamber to create site-specific work for the Denver International Airport.
Chosen to illustrate Native American life during the Anasazi Period, Padilla’s mural shows a panoramic view of a cliff dwelling community (1992). Red Earth Master’s Show, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas
Story of the Sacred Hoop Exhibit, Stuttgart, Germany
Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, New Mexico
Institute of the Franco American Exhibit, Renes, France
Red Earth Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, California
Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado
Museum of the Great Plains, Woodward, Oklahoma
Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Fred Jones, Junior.
Museum of Art, Norman, Oklahoma
Cherokee National Museum, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Fernando Padilla, Junior. lives in Ada, Oklahoma.