(upbeat music) - In this edition of WLIW Artsbeat, an artist who reimagines Pueblo art.

- To Pueblo people, you know, we see a story.

in many instances.

It's my way of connecting to the divine.

- An inspiring mural project.

- The mural is to inspire the kids to follow through with their dreams that even though they are in a position currently, that that's not the end thought.

- The wonders of guitar.

Classical guitar is one of the great instruments in terms of repertoire because we have repertoire going all the way back from the Renaissance up to the present day.

- It's all ahead in this edition of WLIW Artsbeat.

Funding for WLIW Artsbeat is made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to WLIW Artsbeat.

I'm Diane Masciale.

David Naranjo is a contemporary artist reimagining Pueblo art.

Since receiving his BFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he has connected with the natural world in his geometric abstract work.

Take a look.

These designs aren't just used for their ornate aesthetic qualities, but they mean so much more.

To public people, you know, we see a story.

We see a prayer in many instances.

It's my way of connecting to the divine, my way of extending my breath to something much more greater, something much more loving.

(birds chirping) - What role does the natural world play in your artistic expression?

- The natural world combined with our cultural beliefs has enabled us to survive hundreds of years within this desert landscape.

And our art is also a reflection and a testament to that.

In this particular piece, there are parrot designs comprised of water, motifs, cloud, and precipitation.

And the middle panel is an abstracted version of those parrots.

And birds and feathers are important within a cultural setting.

The parrots, like you see here, are also important because the colors of their feathers aren't just representational of the six carnal directions, but they are a bird that can talk and talk to you.

So it has tremendous value within a cultural setting, as well as how they're used and adorned on headdresses, tolitas, just to reinforce their relevancy within some of our most intimate ceremonies.

More specifically, the eagle is seen as an important intermediary between us and the heavens.

And so this design in particular here is or eagle tail.

And it's a repeated eagle tail design.

And it's really looking at a pottery from a bird's eye perspective, showcasing and emulating the overall design.

And this particular piece is inspired by Julian and Maria Martinez.

So it's a piece really to pay homage to them and really can be seen as citations to the love of thousands who have came before us.

(rain pattering) - Can you talk a little bit about the use of lines in your work?

- Yeah, so lines are usually representational of water, rain, precipitation.

And so with my work, you see lines orientated in a way, if they're diagonal, it's falling rain.

Lines also are a great way to portray the trails and pilgrimages that were used for trade and prayer.

Could you share the significance of using materials like micaceous paint and silk and the importance of those materials in your work?

Yeah, micaceous iron oxide has a little bit of the mica flakes.

Once you see it in the sunlight, it has a glisten or a scintillating effect.

And so that primarily comes out of some of the ceramics that come from Taos-Picuris where they include micaceous iron oxide into some of their Puebloan vessels, you know, pottery.

And so since I'm dealing with motifs, iconography that come from these ceramic pieces, I felt it'd be most appropriate to also add them within some of my paintings.

And even the silk kind of brings both the designs and these modern artworks to where they make them a little bit more relatable to this day and age.

So can you tell me about this piece?

This piece in particular is called Tham Pi Yeh or the East or Old Man Mountain and this is part of a polptych four panel piece really kind of dedicating each panel to four of the six cardinal directions.

This one in particular is of the east and is also named Kuu Seng Pin or Old Man Rock Mountain.

And so this particular piece is comprised of bird, feather, water motifs and they're depicting some of our cultural concepts where you know we believe the spiritual world to be a perfect reflection of this world.

And so this design if you make an imaginary horizontal line in the middle you can see that the top half is a perfect mirror image of the bottom half and so in order to include some of these Puebloan cultural concepts of you know above and below you know Zenith Nadir it's a good way to portray prayer.

I think it's great to be able to see some of these designs in a new format like canvas skateboards articles of clothing it's a way to relate to the younger generation to showcase that you know these designs aren't always confined to you know traditional materials that can be pushed into new ways of creating.

I think it is incredibly important to understand who you are, where you come from, and to be able to create and understand and portray some of these concepts is an incredible privilege.

Not only am I getting closer to my family and my communities but I'm also able to explore and able to experiment and in so many ways able to hopefully teach others a little bit about Pueblo culture a little bit about Pueblo design and hopefully in doing so they can learn and become you know better neighbors better relatives in the Southwest.

So it's a way for me to not to engage in prayer but also a way to teach and inspire others to do the same.

Find out more on Facebook.

And now, the Artist Quote of the Week.

At the Falkenburg Road Jail in Tampa, Florida, young people were given the opportunity to participate in an exciting mural project.

Working with a professional artist, they were able to express their creativity and be inspired in the process.

Here's the story.

You are now at the Falkenberg Road Jail, which is our main facility for the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

Presently we house about 3,300 inmates today.

Of those 3,300 inmates, unfortunately we do have 31 juveniles.

Those juveniles are here because they've been either adjudicated or adult or they're here as on adult charges.

So because they're juveniles, they have some protective status and things like that.

So that's why we won't be showing the inmates' faces or their bodies here.

So what brings us here today?

You'll see the mural behind me.

It is an attempt to help these kids to realize that even if they are here or if they're here visiting that they can make other choices.

My name is Keeva Williams.

I'm the founder of Mahogany Kids Fine Arts Foundation.

We empower minority youth through music, art, and dance.

At Mahogany Kids Fine Arts Foundation, we take pride in giving kids experiences that they wouldn't have outside of their own network.

I decided to do a mural because I went to the jail for a leadership program.

And the program director told me that they're open to people coming in and doing things with the juveniles.

I was like, "Oh my God, an art mural would be perfect."

So I contacted my friend who's an artist and I was like, "Hey, this will be a really cool partnership.

Let's give it a go."

So the mural is to inspire the kids to follow through with their dreams, that even though they are in a position currently, that that's not the end all.

That they still have a bright future ahead of them and that they should look forward to it.

My graphic design background aided me in developing a concept.

So I drew everything out on the computer.

I was able to play with colors.

I wanted it to be bold and fun, something that will really uplift their spirits when they come into the building.

There's two days for the mural.

The first day, I'm going to sketch it out.

I will also create it as like a paint by numbers.

So it's going to be interactive for the juveniles as well as our volunteers, which hopefully we'll have some of the staff members.

And day two, we'll actually get to work.

So we'll start painting and it'll all come together.

I love the mural and I was in there when the artist was talking to the kids about, you know, what are their interests and what are their favorite colors?

And she incorporated all of it.

So they were so excited when they got the chance to see it on the wall and start painting.

The majority of juvenile offenders that we get are going to be around 14 or 15.

And they're mandated to go to school.

So they're either in K-12 or GED.

They're teachers or school board teachers.

So Hillsborough County school teachers.

And they follow the same school schedule that the Hillsborough County schools follow.

On spring break, they don't have as much to do.

They actually miss being in school because, you know, they're engaged, they're doing something.

So they were so excited to be here and be a part of it yesterday.

It was really nice.

Ah, my kids.

[laughs] Um, they're amazing.

They call me Nana Chap.

They're here for different charges, but if you really get to know them, you'll understand that their stories are about the same.

Dad may be in prison and Mom is an addict.

And many of them are being raised by grandparents.

My generation, which is not an easy thing to do, you know, but to me this was an opportunity for them to recognize the talents that they have.

And it's something that I talked to them about to pray for, for the God to reveal what their talents are.

And yesterday was a wake up call for them.

And they were so focused.

They were not playing around or joking.

They were really focused on what they were doing.

That is beautiful.

And I told them, I said, "You know, you don't realize it, but you're leaving a little bit of your fingerprint here for the next generation that comes in here."

[Music] So, unfortunately, the majority of the kids in the jail are black and brown youths.

So, as a mom of three minority kids, impacting minority youth is important to me because I have three kids of my own.

So, I want to make sure that I'm being an example and someone the kids can look up to because I want to do my part in serving the community.

It's important for artists and other people in the community to be involved with our juvenile population because it gives them a feeling of support and they know that they can do more than just be here incarcerated without hope.

They can go out and they can get a job, they can continue their education.

There are people out there that are going to give them a chance.

because they're in jail.

They don't have to stay here, they don't have to get into the adult system and things like that.

So we hope that everyone that comes in here leaves here in a better place than what they came.

I think the mural is great.

I'm looking forward to seeing it completed.

This has only been a day, so two days to get this done is a little feat in itself.

We're almost finished.

We're on day two.

I'm really excited for the finished product.

What I saw yesterday lifted their self-esteem.

And you know, it's really good for them to be able to do these things because they're able to release.

They came in, they were enthusiastic, they wanted to help, they wanted to be a part of the process, and I feel like they're very proud of their work.

I think this is amazing for both the youth and the adults to come together, work on something, having good behavior, and just having something to look forward to, to motivate them.

It was amazing.

Discover more at facebook.com/mahoganykidsfinear.

Now here's a look at this month's fun facts.

[Theme Music] >> Douglas Rubio is a nationally recognized musician and a professor of classical guitar at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York.

Up next, we learn more about his love of teaching and listen to him perform.

I grew up in Southern California, but where people think of it as being sunshine and beach, I grew up in a mountain resort.

And so there was a lot more snow than we get in the North Country there.

And went to college at the University of California at Irvine, and then grad school for my master's and doctorate at the University of Southern California.

The first time I ever saw classical guitar was on television, I think on the "Ed Sullivan Show."

And there was just something about it that just captivated me.

And at the time, my parents were thinking of moving to Spain for a few years so my father could take a job.

And they said I could take classical guitar lessons if we moved to Spain.

But even before I started taking lessons, it was just a real puzzle.

I remember once sitting in my uncle's small bedroom while he was away one day, and he had a guitar he said I could play, and I picked it up, and here was this mystery of strings and notes and things, and I didn't know a thing about it, but I thought, "One of these days, I'm going to unlock this mystery."

And it hasn't quite happened totally yet, because it's a very complex instrument, but I think I'm well on my way by now.

I love teaching.

I love working with students at this age group, young adults, and to see them come into the program as freshmen, where they're just really, even though they're technically adults, they're still boys and girls.

And then in that four years, to see their development, not just musical development, of course, but just their personal development to graduate, and now they're men and women, and I really love that about my job.

So I think I have the perfect job.

I get to deal with the greatest music ever written, I get to deal with guitar, and they also let me teach courses in the music of the Beatles, which is my second love after the guitar.

There are many students these days who are very excited to find out that we have a course on the Beatles, and sometimes I teach it for non-music majors as a general education course, and other times I teach it for music majors as an upper division music history course, so they can take a class in Beethoven or Bach or the Beatles.

And these guys up here now have their arms out, does that mean anything to you guys?

And I find when I teach this online, students will often tell me that their parents are sneaking onto the website that we use and reading all of my materials and kind of watching the class over their kids' shoulders because they're so interested also.

Only now that I've gotten older at this, sometimes they tell me it's the grandparents who are doing that rather than the parents.

I perform in a number of different ways.

A lot of what I do is just solo classical guitar.

I suppose people think of classical guitar and they think of it mostly as a solo and accompanied instrument, kind of like a piano soloist or something.

But I happen to play a lot of chamber music as well with other instruments.

So like last semester, I played a recital of clarinet and guitar music with one of my colleagues here at Crane.

And my wife is an outstanding flutist, and so we play a lot of flute and guitar music, and we're known as the Rubio Duo.

We've been playing together since before we got married.

But also with a lot of other instrumentalists and singers as well.

Classical guitar is one of the great instruments in terms of repertoire because we have repertoire going all the way back from the Renaissance up to the present day.

So some of my composers that I like, the English Elizabethan composer John Dowland is outstanding.

But of course the biggest of all is Bach.

He composed for an instrument called the lute, which is very similar to the guitar.

And so of all the real major composers in classical music, he's the one who has composed music that we can legitimately call our own.

(guitar music) The piece I'll be playing today is not actually a guitar piece.

It's a piano piece by a Spanish composer named Isaac Albeniz.

And Albeniz was a huge fan of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, and so tried to write in that very European style.

But there was another Spanish musicologist who convinced him to try to write music that was more Spanish.

And so he switched and started writing very Spanish music, primarily for an accompanied piano.

But if you're going to write Spanish music, you're going to be incorporating the sounds of Spain, which is the sounds of the guitars.

So much of his music is very guitar-like.

And when we take it from piano and arrange it for the guitar, it sounds very much like it was intended for that instrument.

[MUSIC PLAYING] [PLAYING GUITAR] [MUSIC PLAYING] [PLAYING GUITAR] [MUSIC PLAYING] For more information, visit douglasrubio.com.

And here's a look at this week's Art History.

♪ ♪ That wraps it up for this edition of WLIW Artsbeat.

Visit our webpage to watch more episodes of the show.

We hope to see you next time.

I'm Diane Masciale.

Thank you for watching.

Funding for WLIW Artsbeat was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

[MUSIC PLAYING]