Ann Federici-Martin was born in a back room of an opera house in rural Cimarron, New Mexico in 1914. At least, the building was supposed to have provided a venue for Italian arias...view moreAnn Federici-Martin was born in a back room of an opera house in rural Cimarron, New Mexico in 1914. At least, the building was supposed to have provided a venue for Italian arias when her father built it out of stone that he had quarried himself from a nearby hillside. But it soon gave way to more humble and less aristocratic purposes and became a successful dance pavilion, athletic club, and silent movie house.
It was in this wild west environment of miners, cattlemen, and fellow immigrants that Ann grew up. Through her world passed traveling musicians and actors from almost mythical places like Chicago and St. Louis, and people from countless ethnic backgrounds: Italians, Greeks, Slavs, Spaniards, Mexicans, Native Americans…and Texans.
Ann fell in love at a young age, with the man who would become her husband and life-long companion, Curtis Martin. After his return from the South Pacific and World War II, Curtis, with Ann at his side, would attend Harvard University where he completed his Ph.D. in political science. Ann and Curtis ended up in Boulder, where he taught at the University of Colorado, and where Ann completed her own education; securing a double Bachelor’s degree in Italian as a second language, and Fine Arts (at the age of 68!) Her work in the art department allowed her to persue a life-long dream; being a sculptor. She worked in a number of mediums, including wood, clay, and bronze, but it was the chiseling of marble, sandstone, and granite that satisfied her creative urges the most—following in her father’s footprints as a worker in stone.
She is 94…going on 50.view less