The Hands that Shaped Po’pay: A Conversation with Cliff Fragua

In this episode of Pueblo In Focus, hear from world-renowned sculptor Cliff Fragua (Jemez Pueblo). Cliff will be discussing his sculpture of Po'pay, who led the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 against Spanish colonial powers. This sculpture can be seen in Washington, D.C.'s National Statuary Hall, with another version on display in IPCC's permanent exhibit. Along with his journey of getting his sculpture to the Statuary Hall, Cliff also speaks about his sculpting process and the inspirations behind his art.   00:00 - Intro 01:53 - Singing Stone Studio 04:23 - Importance of Songs 05:26 - Early Life in Missouri 06:28 - First Drawing 07:45 - Life in San Francisco 10:07 - Moving Back to Jemez 10:50 - Institute of American Indian Arts 13:16 - First Discovering Sculpting 15:54 - Leaving IAIA 16:45 - Using Stonework at the Pueblo 19:22 - We’re Natives We Barter 22:58 - First Art Shows 25:29 - The Start of Po’pay Statues 27:34 - Lessons Learned From Italy 29:38 - Researching Po’pay 33:48 - Creating the Look of Po’pay 38:42 - Getting the Stone for Po’pay 41:28 - Welcoming the Stone to Jemez 43:04 - You Can Stay, But We Have to Kill You 47:08 - Getting Po’pay to His New Home 51:40 - An Idea is Born 54:26 - Po’pay Survives Another Insurrection 56:20 - Po’pay Still Speaking Today 57:53 - 2nd Po’pay Statue at IPCC 1:02:59 - Po’pay Represents America 1:15:50 - Outro   #Popay #PuebloRevolt #Resilient #Pueblo #Native #Indigenous  #PuebloInFocus #IndianPuebloCulturalCenter #IPCC #Podcast #Albuquerque #NewMexico #NativeAmerican #NativeCulture #Jemez #Acoma