Richard Naranjo

Richard Naranjo (b. 1946) is a Bay Area artist. Since joining NIAD Art Center in 2023, he has produced numerous expressive and surreal landscape paintings inspired by reservations in the southwest. Naranjo's work has been featured in exhibitions at Sonoma State University Art Gallery and in the NIAD Annex Gallery. 

I remember going to visit the reservation and one of the elders taught me sandpainting. Then being with my aunts -- it was all about the food! We believe we keep the earth clean and it'll pay us back, keep us alive. We don't use stuff that will destroy the earth. If I want a green color, I'll get the green leaves and soak them in saltwater and break them down into a powdered form. It's all natural.

You have to be calm and loving around animals. I love dogs and dogs love me back. My neighbor’s dog was growling at everyone. It had some puppies and my neighbor said, "you better be careful around those dogs — you stay away from them, they’ll bite you!" And I said "I’m not scared" and you know, the mother dog came and licked my hand. And those puppies curled up right next to me to sleep.