Artist

Nicholas Herrera

born El Rito, NM 1964
Media - herrera_nicholas.jpg - 90021
Originally photographed by Chuck Rosenak. Image is courtesy of the Chuck and Jan Rosenak research material, 1990-1999, in the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Born
El Rito, New Mexico, United States
Biography

Nicholas Herrera is known as El Rito Santero (the Saint maker of El Rito) in his New Mexico community. When he was young, he was mixed up in drugs, alcohol, guns, and fast cars and had several run-ins with the police. In 1990, however, he was involved in a serious car accident that changed his life. The accident put him in a coma, during which he saw a muerte (death figure) by his great-uncle José Inés Herrera at the end of a tunnel of light. He believes this image brought him out of the coma and that God intended for him to become a saint maker (Awalt and Rhetts, Herrera, Visions of My Heart, with essay by Charles Rosenak, 2003). Saint makers, or santeros, create devotional paintings and carvings of saints for use in churches and in private homes. Herrera makes crucifixes, death figures, and saints as well as sculptures inspired by modern issues such as police brutality and the dangers of nuclear power.

Works by this artist (2 items)

Nicholas Herrera, Protect and Serve, 1994, painted wood, metal, hair, plastic, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.65A-B
Protect and Serve
Artist
Date1994
painted wood, metal, hair, plastic
Not on view
Nicholas Herrera, Dance Hall, Bar, and Lowrider, 1995, paint on wood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.25
Dance Hall, Bar, and Lowrider
Artist
Date1995
paint on wood
Not on view

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      An interview with the artist Nicholas Herrera. Nicholas Herrera is known as El Rito Santero (the Saint maker of El Rito) in his New Mexico community. When he was young, he was mixed up in drugs, alcohol, guns, and fast cars and had several run-ins with the police. In 1990, however, he was involved in a serious car accident that changed his life. The accident put him in a coma, during which he saw a muerte (death figure) by his great-uncle José Herrera at the end of a tunnel of light. He believes this image brought him out of the coma and that God intended for him to become a saint maker (Awalt and Rhetts, Herrera, Visions of My Heart, with essay by Charles Rosenak, 2003). Saint makers, or santeros, create devotional paintings and carvings of saints for use in churches and in private homes. Herrera makes crucifixes, death figures, and saints as well as sculptures inspired by modern issues such as police brutality and the dangers of nuclear power.