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Victorio
Roland Vargas Mousaa, Apache, was born May, 1949 in New Mexico and
was raised from the age of four at St. Vincent’s orphanage in
Denver, Colorado. He then was sent to farms to work until he finished
high school in 1968. Now a folk musician, Roland hitchhiked to New
York City to avoid the draft to Vietnam. He worked with the American
Indian Movement, and recorded with Floyd Red Crow Westerman on his
first record, “Custer Died For Your Sins”. He then met Pete
Seeger, and worked with him in the civil rights, anti-nuclear and
Vietnam demonstrations down south as well as in the Northeast. He
also performed with many other well-known musicians including Bob
Dylan and Richie Havens, who in 1974 recorded “The Indian
Prayer”, co-written by Tom Pacheco. He was offered a recording
contract by John Hammond Sr. of Columbia Records after recording a
demo with him, but turned it down. He was also offered the part of
lead singer in the musical stage production of “Hair”,
which he also turned down. He did later sign with Frank Music Publishing.
In the
1980’s, Roland became the program director for the American
Indian Community House, and also helped create he Pow-Wow for songs
for NAICA (Native American Indian Cultural Alliance).
The picture
on the CD cover, painted by Roland in 1977, was exhibited at the MET
which helped him win the Metropolitan Art Museum Presidential Art
Scholarship Award to attend the New York School of Visual Arts.
Today, he continues to sing and record these inter-tribal social folk
dance songs at Pow-Wows, and still continues to this day to work on
the NAICA project. He has recently been nominated for a “Life
Time Achievement Award” from NAMA ~ Native American Music
Association this year 2006. |
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Roland Mousaa
has been an artist all his life. At the age of nine he received
special art instruction from Sister Angeleanus at St.
Vincent’s Home in Denver, Colorado. Two years later, at a
summer art school, his art teacher, Diana Barker, encouraged
his to pursue his creative talents further. Then, from age 13 to 18,
Roland lived and worked on farms and ranches in Colorado, where he
spent a great deal of time observing nature.
Since 1968, when
Roland came to New York City from Colorado at the age of 19,
he has been busy in the art world. He studied art on his own, reading
books and studying paintings at museums. He concentrated especially
on learning about Leonardo DaVinci. He soon met
artist/musician Tom Pacheco, who inspired Roland to keep
trying new ideas in art.
 Roland
showed his paintings in the Figaro Greenwich Village coffee
shop (he was the first artist to be featured there, and helped
establish permanent art shows for new artists). One of his drawings
(and two of his songs) have been published in Sing Out! Magazine.
He has had one presentation show of his paintings at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, and he has had two one-man art shows: in 1975 at
the Little Carnegie Art Gallery and in 1977 at the Coronet
Art Gallery. In 1976 he was awarded a presidential scholarship to
study at the School of Visual Arts. He also studied in the
summer of that year at the Haystack Art School in Maine.
In 1979, he thought
of the idea for a Museum for Children’s Art—the
concept of the idea was to have the children who were artists, invite
the adults and friends to their art shows. He believed, this would
encourage children to become artists. He pursued this idea, by
contacting schools and other children centers, and with help from Barbara
Rockefeller, Hazel Rodriguez, and others in the art world, it
finally became a reality in late 1979, opening at The Brooklyn
Restoration Center.
Roland showed his
paintings many times in midtown theaters, with the help of Milly Sherman,
art director of the Walter Reade Theaters; then in September
1983, he participated in a group art show in Soho at the Gallery
Studio 429. In January 1984 he showed his work at The Queens Museum
in another group art show.
The artist continues his painting. One of his
works, The Energy of Two Souls in Love: Reunion on Planet Ethroup,
will appear on his first record album.
Roland married Mindy "Smile" Fradkin
on September 8th, 2007 in Baltimore, MD and had a beautiful
wedding. They had a wonderful wedding party at Utopia Studios (thanks
to Gary Chetkoff, WDST) on October 21, 2007 in Bearsville, NY, with
celebrities, well known scientists and other wonderful people.
Mindy started a campaign called "The
Smile Revolution", which mission is to raise conscious
awareness to the healing power of a smile. She started a blog and a
radio show on WKNY 1490 am, Kingston. www.thesmilerevolution.com
She is one of the executive producers on Roland's
documentary film which is being shot by a former CBS Music
Director, Tom Desisto and Mark Malevani, both business men/musicians/producers.
Mindy is also a performer/hat designer and has a
one woman show called, Important Hats. www.theprincessofwow.com
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