Frank LaPena

Frank Raymond LaPena, also known as Frank LaPeña and by his Wintu name Tauhindauli (1937 – 2019), was a Nomtipom-Wintu American Indian painter, printmaker, ethnographer, professor, ceremonial dancer, poet, and writer. He taught at California State University, Sacramento, between 1975 and 2002. LaPena helped defined a generation of Native artists in a revival movement to share their experiences, traditions, culture, and ancestry.

Early life and education Frank Raymond LaPena was born on October 5, 1937, in San Francisco, California, to parents Evelyn Gladys (née Towndolly) and Henry LaPena. His family was of the Nomtipom-Wintu tribe, and from an early age he started learning about traditions from his elders and neighboring tribes including the Nomlaki Wintun.

LaPena contributed cultural and ethnographic records to the seminal book, Handbook of North American Indians Volume 8: California (1978), and he was a frequent contributor to the journal, News from Native California, between the late-1980s and the 2000s.

Art career and poetry LaPena starting exhibiting his artwork in 1960 at a gallery in Chico. He created works in various mediums including in painting, printmaking, silversmithing, photography, woodworking, and others.

LePena was part of the seminal art exhibition curated by artist Carlos Villa, Other Sources: An American Essay (1976), which was an alternative celebration of the United States Bicentennial, and focused on people of color and women. It showcased many San Francisco Bay Area artists including Ruth Asawa, Bernice Bing, Rolando Castellón, Claude Clark, Robert Colescott, Frank Day, Rupert García, Mike Henderson, Oliver Jackson, Linda Lomahaftewa, George Longfish, Ralph Maradiaga, José Montoya, Manuel Neri, Mary Lovelace O'Neal, Darryl Sapien, Raymond Saunders, James Hiroshi Suzuki, Horace Washington, Al Wong, René Yañez, and Leo Valledor.

Additionally, LaPena published several volumes of poetry. the Cantor Arts Center, the National Museum of the American Indian, C.N. Gorman Museum, and others.

LaPena was featured in two documentary films, Frank LaPeña: Wintu Artist and Traditionalist (1988) and The Heard Museum Presents Frank LaPeña, Artist and Lecturer (1993).

Publications

Exhibition catalogues

As author

As editor