VITAE
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1957, Craig Varjabedian received his BFA from the University of Michigan in 1979 and his MFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1989. He has enjoyed a prodigious career photographing, exhibiting, writing, publishing, lecturing and teaching for over thirty years.
Home is in the Land of Enchantment—Santa Fe, New Mexico which he shares with his wife Kathryn, their daughter Rebekkah and two rambunctious black-and-white photo dogs named Dektol and Ektar.
career HIGHLIGHTS
awards
Emmy Award
National Endowment for the Arts (2x)
McCune Charitable Foundation (2x)
Wrangler Photography Book Award, National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
New Mexico Humanities Council (3x)
Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Best Art Book Award, New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards
Award for Excellence, Association of American University Presses
Ben Franklin Award
published books
2021
The Gifts of Fleeting Grace. Eloquent Light Editions, Santa Fe
2020
The Light of Days Gone By. Eloquent Light Editions, Santa Fe
2018
The Alchemy of Light. Eloquent Light Editions, Santa Fe
2018
Into the Great White Sands. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
2017
Light of the Great Mystery: Native American Portraits. Eloquent Light Editions, Santa Fe
2015
Photographs and Words: Photographs by Craig Varjabedian. Eloquent Light Editions, Santa Fe
2012
Landscape Dreams, A New Mexico Portrait. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
2010
The Eloquence of Trees: Photographs by Craig Varjabedian. Athenon and PhotoBook Press
2009
Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
2007
Four and Twenty Photographs: Stories from Behind the Lens. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
2001
This Enchanted Land. Texas Lutheran University, Seguin
1998
As the Spirit Stands Still: Photographs by Craig Varjabedian. Cirrus Editions Limited, Santa Fe
1998
The Grace of Light: Images of Faith from Catholic New Mexico. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs
1994
En Divina Luz: The Penitente Moradas of New Mexico. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque
1989
Places of Power: Photographs by Craig Varjabedian. Self
Museum Exhibitions
The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
The Albuquerque Museum of Art & History, Albuquerque, New Mexico (2x)
C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana
The Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Weigand Gallery, College of Notre Dame, Belmont, California
Fine Arts Center Galleries, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island
Museum of the Southwest, Midland, Texas
National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
Palace of the Governors, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2x)
Museo de las Americas, Denver, Colorado
Ross Art Museum/Ohio Wesleyan University
Fort Collins Museum, Fort Collins, Colorado
selected public and private collections
Aarott Library, New Mexico Highlands University, Las Vegas, New Mexico
The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, California
Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, Colorado Springs, Colorado
DeGolyer Rare Book Library, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas
Senator Diane Feinstein, San Francisco, California
Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas
The Jaegal Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland
J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
LaSalle Partners, Limited, Chicago, Illinois
Los Alamos National Bank, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico
National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson, New Mexico
Taos Historic Museums, Taos, New Mexico
Trinity Capital Corporation, Los Alamos, New Mexico
The William Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conneecticut
Zimmerman Library, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico
teaching
Founder and Director of the Eloquent Light Photography Workshops, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since 1986.
Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, New Mexico