Fred Cleveland (American 20th c);
Ritual;
oil on canvas;
30 x 10 in; framed: 22.5 x 12.5 in;
Fred Cleaveland is a member of the Bitter Water and Kayonnie clans. He says he was born at "one of the first Indian hospitals- a Hogan." Till going away to boarding school at the age of ten. Fred lived in a Hogan in the rugged high Desert Mountains near Ganado, AZ where his family raised sheep. He was first exposed to art when he watched his mother weave rugs and his father, who created images in the curative process of sand painting. He left the reservation for a time when his mother taught weaving in Arizona State College in Flagstaff. She could not afford a babysitter and as he sat close by her in the classroom, students would pass him pencils and paper to work with and keep him busy. This was his introduction to a means of expression that he has used ever since. At Toyei Boarding School in Arizona he painted a mural, and during his army experience in Germany did murals, as part of is KP duty.


Fred Cleveland remained a basically self-taught artist until he and three other Native American artists, Ted Draper, Jimmy Abeita, and Sammy Sandoval, went away to study for a year and a half at the American Academy of Art in Chicago.


Fred says if he had to name a style for his work, he would call it "Native American Western." In other respects, however, he hesitates to characterize himself, recognizing that his work contains elements of new traditionalism, realism, and old traditionalism. He likes earth tones and the portrayal of scenes of Native American life. Above all, he seeks to express something about his own life, about his past, and emotions he has felt.


This is a point where Fred acknowledges an important difference between his life and that of his ancestors, a realization he had while doing a show with his father. Fred showed his work, and his father did sand paintings, which were destroyed afterwards. In the Navajo way, those types of expression, of your life and what you have seen, of the past and it's encouragement for the human race behind as a legacy for the children of the world.


Fred Cleveland has won numerous awards for his work. Nearly every year since 1978 he has placed either 1st or 2nd at the New Mexico State Fair. Fred has also won numerous 1st and 2nd place awards since 1969 from Heard Museum and the Philbrook Museum of Indian Art competitions. In 1972 Fred won the Grand Award in Art at the Navajo Tribal Fair an award that he prizes more than most.

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