Becky Olvera Schultz
She is an indigenous artist of mixed blood, Mexican/Azteca/Kickapoo/Shawnee from her father and Italian from her mother.
Born in El Paso, Texas, Becky spent her infant and toddler years in New Mexico as a military brat at Alamogordo/White Sands Army Air Force Base. She spent her childhood and young adult years in Southern California but for the last several years has made her home in beautiful Santa Cruz County on the north central coast of California in the small town of Aptos.
Her Southwestern beginning would eventually influence her artistic expression. She demonstrated her creativity as a small girl by designing and sewing clothing for her dolls and as a teen pursued painting and loom bead work. One of her favorite creative things was to take scissors and free hand cut from paper the profiles of friends and relatives. She credits much of her natural talent to her parents, who both were very creative people. She has traveled extensively in the Southwestern and Northwestern states to learn more about the native cultures of which she is so fond. Her own indigenous bloodline, natural talent, research, and travel experiences have brought about her specific style of artwork.
Originally an art major in college, Becky did not resume her art career until early 1993, shortly after the death of her brother, who was her only sibling. An acquaintance she met while on a powwow committee suggested she take a drum class as therapy. She experienced a centering working the wet rawhide of the drum and soon began creating with clay. Motivated by grief and reflecting on her own life, she found working with clay to be a healing and satisfying experience. Encouraged and supported by family and friends, she began marketing and exhibiting her art and experimenting in different mediums. Her background in advertising and public relations greatly aided her in promoting her art.
An award winning artist, her work has been represented in galleries in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington, Illinois, Montana, Michigan, Arizona, New York, Colorado and Oregon. She has participated in many exhibitions, including international and national juried shows. She has had nine museum exhibitions to her credit. Her masks are in private collections in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Since 1993 Becky’s art has been in featured numerous daily and weekly newspapers and in the international magazines of Cowboys & Indians, Native Peoples and Wild West Magazine’s Art of the West section.
