Carmelita Little Turtle facts for kids
Carmelita "Carm" Little Turtle is a talented photographer. She was born in Santa Maria, California, on June 4, 1952. Carmelita is from the Apache and Tarahumara Native American tribes.
She is known for her unique photographs. These pictures are often hand-painted and have a sepia tone, which gives them an old-fashioned look. Her art explores important ideas like how boys and girls are expected to act. She also looks at women's rights and how people relate to each other.
Carmelita creates special scenes for her photos. She uses her husband, family, and herself as characters. These scenes are set in beautiful Southwestern landscapes. They help show the feelings and connections between people.
Carmelita says that the objects and clothes in her photos have a special meaning to her. This meaning comes from her own ideas, not from what others expect. She wants her art to feel timeless. This means it should make you think about the past, present, and future all at once.
About Her Life
Carmelita Little Turtle went to Navajo Community College. She graduated from there in 1978. Later, she studied photography at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She also learned photography at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka, California.
Before becoming an artist, she first thought about becoming a nurse. From 1980 to 1983, she also worked as a producer and photographer. This was for a company called Shenandoah Films in Arcata, California.
Her first art show was in 1982. It was at the Harwood Foundation in Taos, New Mexico. She has shown her work in many individual and group exhibitions. Her first group show was also in 1982. It was called Native Americans Now. This show was at the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. Many of her exhibitions focused on Native American themes.
You can find her artwork in several important collections. These include the Center for Creative Photography and the Heard Museum. Her work is also at the Southwest Museum and the Southern Plains Indian Museum. In 1993, she received the Western States Arts Federation Fellowship award.
Carmelita Little Turtle has also been featured in books. Lawrence Abbott interviewed her for his book, I Stand in the Center of the Good: Interviews with Contemporary Native American Artists (1994). Joan M. Jensen also wrote about her in a chapter for the book Women Artists of the American West (2011).
Art Shows
Here are some of Carmelita Little Turtle's individual art shows:
- 1982 – Harwood Foundation, Taos, New Mexico
- 1983 – Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, California
- 1991 – Reflections in Time, American Indian Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, California
- 1992 – Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
- 2016 – Brandywine Workshop Collection, Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, Arizona
