Anthony Lovato Living Treasure exhibition at MIAC Santa Fe

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) presents the 2023 Living Treasure award exhibition, Down Home: Anthony Lovato (Kewa/Santo Domingo Pueblo) opening on May 7. Lovato is a master jeweler known for his tufa-cast technique and signature design elements. 

Drawing from the MIAC permanent collection and the generosity of private lenders, Down Home brings together decades of Anthony Lovato artwork. Selections detailing his trademark corn, horse, and hand motifs are complemented by individual masterpieces evoking family, migration, and cosmology.  

Importantly, the exhibition focuses on Lovato’s interpretation of his own work. Visitors will leave not only with a deeper knowledge of jewelry making and tufa casting, but of Lovato as an artist, community member, and storyteller. As a complement to his artistic practice, Lovato is dedicated to working within his community, serving as an advocate for language revitalization, education, and the power of art to facilitate healing.  

In addition to showing Lovato’s innovative and always one-of-a-kind pendants, stamped necklaces, bracelets, rings, pins, and sculptural items the exhibition also includes the work of his grandfather, Leo Coriz.  

“Anthony Lovato is a champion for his community,” Polly Nordstrand, Museum of Indian Arts & Culture executive director, said. “His commitment to keeping traditions alive is admirable and the museum is honored to showcase his work.” 

About the Artist

Anthony Lovato grew up around jewelry, first working with metal in 1973, and becoming a dedicated metalsmith in 1984. He attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, where he focused his studies in metalwork and museum studies, and then worked at the Museum of Northern Arizona, also taking jewelry classes at Northern Arizona University and the University of Colorado.

He has received dozens of awards—from the Santa Fe Indian Market, the Red Earth Nation Show, the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Show, the Heard Museum Guild Indian Market, and others—and has been featured in several magazines throughout the United States.

A fifth-generation jeweler, Lovato’s primary influences include Allan Houser, Charles Loloma, his grandfather, Leo Coriz, and his mother, Mary Coriz Lovato.  

About the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture  

The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Regents for the Museum of New Mexico. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and our donors.

The mission of the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology is to serve as a center of stewardship, knowledge, and understanding of the artistic, cultural, and intellectual achievements of the diverse peoples of the Native Southwest.