Shonto Begay

Shonto Begay is a Native American artist, illustrator, writer, and teacher. He began his artistic career in 1983 and his art features landscapes and other cultural elements of Navajo life.

Biography and education Begay was born into the Diné tribe on February 7, 1954, near Shonto, Arizona. His mother was a Navajo weaver from the Bitter Water clan and his father was a medicine man from the Salt clan. Begay was named via a traditional Navajo naming ceremony that is held once a baby has their first laugh; this name is only used by family members and Begay was given an American name by the government, "Wilson". Begay later changed this first name to his great-great grandmother's name, Shonto. He attended a residential boarding school near Flagstaff, where he was expected to assimilate into western society. He, along with other children, were prohibited from expressing any aspects of their culture and would receive corporal punishment if they did otherwise. He later moved back to his Navajo reservation in Arizona and currently lives in Kayenta, where he works on his art in a hogan located about 30 miles away from his house. He also teaches workshops to youth and believes that "art saves lives". His art has been likened to the art movement of social realism, as critics have stated that his art fights against the romanticism of native life.

Begay's artwork features a recurring characteristic where light seeps through and illuminates some elements of the painting, which Michael Abatemarco of the Santa Fe New Mexican states harmoniously balances beauty (light) with the subject matter of the painting.

Nightwalker This painting features a starry night sky, and the floor is covered with snow. There is a figure walking through the snow, and the figure is see-through. Shonto says that this painting is "tickling the spirit world, people who have passed and still walking on the land, where they belonged".

Exhibitions/shows

Solo exhibitions

"Rhythm of the Blue Highway", Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery (Foothills, Arizona), October 1–31, 2018. "Artist Talk with Shonto Begay", The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian (Santa Fe, New Mexico), November 5, 2017. "Aje' Ji' :The Heart Way", Modern West Fine Art Gallery (Salt Lake City, Utah), February 17- March 11, 2017. "Map of My Heart", The Museum of Northern Arizona (Flagstaff, Arizona), June 22 – October 19, 2014. "Solo Show", Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery (Foothills, Arizona), 2013. "Reclaimed by Snakeweeds IV", Santa Fe Indian Market, 2008.

Group exhibitions

"Modern West Holidays", Modern West Fine Art Gallery (Salt Lake City, Utah), November 19, 2019 – January 10, 2020. "The Western Sublime: Majestic Landscapes of the American West", Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block (Tucson, Arizona), October 19, 2019– February 9, 2020. "Into a New West", Briscoe Museum (San Antonio, Texas), May 24- September 1, 2019. "Six Navajo Masters: Abeyta, Begay, Johns, Whitehorse, Whitethorne & Yazzie", Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art Gallery, May 16- August 4, 2019. "Small Works", Modern West Fine Art Gallery (Salt Lake City, Utah) December 7, 2018 – January 12, 2019. "Along the Distant Mesa: An Homage to Maynard Nixon", Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, 2019. "Native American Portraiture", Rainmaker Gallery (Bristol, England), October 5–28, 2015. " The 7c's of Arizona", The Phoenix Airport Museum (Phoenix, Arizona), October 21, 2014– April 19, 2015. "Bierstadt to Warhol: American Indians in the West", Utah Museum of Fine Arts (Salt Lake City, Utah), February 15 – August 11, 2013. Messengers 2012", Rainmaker Gallery (Bristol, England), June 13- July 25, 2012. "10th Shonto Art Show", Brandy's Restaurant and Bakery (Flagstaff, Arizona), 2008. IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery

Honors and awards

Shonto Begay has received the following honors and awards: 2022 Honor for The Water Lady 2020 Viola Legacy Award 2015 Best of Flag Award (Local Artist) 2015 Viola Award for Excellence in the Arts 2008 1st place in Painting, Santa Fe Indian Market 1988 Reading Rainbow Award (The Mud Pony) The Boy Who Dreamed of an Acorn (1994) The Magic of Spider Woman (1996) Navajo Long Walk: The Tragic Story of a Proud People's Forced March from Their Homeland (2002) Strawberry Pop and Soda Crackers (1997)

Contributed Collective Willeto: The Visionary Carvings of a Navajo Artist (2002)