Arlene Cisneros Sena
Among Arlene Cisneros Sena’s numerous awards at Spanish Market are first-place prizes in the highly competitive retablo category as well as the coveted Archbishop’s Award.
Arlene Cisneros Sena
Santa Fe
2010 Recipient, Individual Artist
Among Arlene Cisneros Sena’s numerous awards at Spanish Market are first-place prizes in the highly competitive retablo category as well as the coveted Archbishop’s Award. In 1994, Sena’s artwork was chosen for the official Spanish Market poster and, in 1998, she received the Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. In 2003, Sena was commissioned to paint the altar screen (reredos) of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe. "Arlene’s contribution to the Spanish colonial saint-making tradition of New Mexico is frankly unfathomable," said Bud Redding, director of Spanish Market in Santa Fe, who nominated Sena both personally and on behalf of the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. "Her depiction of the different scenes of St. Joseph’s life on that screen can certainly be called a lifetime achievement," said the Rev. Msgr. Jerome J. Martinez y Alire in his letter of support. "Not only is it beautiful, but spiritually uplifting to our faithful." Charles Carrillo, a past recipient of the Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, said of Sena, "Arlene is to New Mexico what color is to art."