Dawahoya wins Native American Art Contest

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Rudy Dawahoya Jr., a student at Northern Arizona University, is the winner of the Native American Art Contest sponsored by Kendall Hunt Publishing and Dr. Marsha Fralick, author of Native American College and Career Success. Dawahoya's art titled "Filled Life" will be featured on the cover of this textbook, which will be used by first year students across the country and in Canada. He will receive $1,000 as a prize for winning this contest.

"Filled Life" shows the artist's interpretation of traditional Hopi symbols. Included in the drawing is the Snow Katcina Mother (Nuvaktsinmana) in the center of the clouds, composed of Hopi pottery and textile designs representing her beauty and significance. She appears during the Niman (Home Dance) katcinam of late summer to summon a good snow season for the upcoming planting season.

Dawahoyacomes from the Indigenous Nations of the Hopi, Akimel O'Odham, and Tohono O'Odham in Arizona. He is from the Coyote and Snake Clans from the villages of Paaqavi (Hopi) and Schuk Shudag or Blackwater (Akimel). He is enrolled with the Gila River Indian Community and is currently attending Northern Arizona University where he is in his junior year. He is looking forward to graduation in May of 2013 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, Studio Arts in Painting. It is his goal to become a full-time artist and to open a studio with the hopes of sharing his skills as a teacher for all age ranges.He is a self-taught artist who first touched canvas in the third grade, so he knows the potential everyone has to develop their artistic talents. His dream is to live by, through, within, and around all aspects of art.