In the late ’80s, Bonnie and Thomas Trzaskos had six kids and were living in Connecticut. The couple were wandering through some shops when they spotted a print by Native American artist Amado Peña Jr. that stopped them in their tracks. Though they couldn’t afford it, they scraped together the money to purchase the print, and it hung in their home for 20 years. It also led to a love affair with southwestern décor and Native American art.
Fast forward to 2008. Thomas retired from the police department and the same day the couple loaded up the car and moved to Phoenix. Thomas, who was a bomb technician, went to work as a contract instructor for police departments in far-flung locales like Jordan and Pakistan. While he was working in the latter country, he received a phone call from an ecstatic Bonnie. She had been shopping at an art fair in Fountain Hills when she stumbled upon Amada Peña Jr. selling his work at a booth. He invited her and her son to dinner that night, and the rest is history. The Santa Fe-based artist became fast friends with the Trzaskos family, even critiquing daughter Bethany’s art and inviting her to manage his New Mexico gallery. He also told the Trzaskos that if they ever decided to open a gallery, he would support them 100 percent. So this past April, Bonnie and Thomas opened Red View Gallery in Uptown. The gallery represents Amado, Bethany and an eclectic mix of painters, sculptors, leather workers and ceramicists. The gallery also has a selection of vintage Native American jewelry from the ’50s and ’60s along with some consignment paintings by the likes of R.C. Gorman and Frank Howell.
Thomas still works as a contract instructor – he spent eight months on the road last year – so Bonnie and Bethany usually run the gallery. Thomas gets emotional when he thinks about how much things have changed from the days he and Bonnie struggled to purchase a print. “We have a lot of energy right now because we love art and everything about it,” he says. “And we get to interact with art lovers, and that’s so rewarding.”– Erika Ayn Finch. Photo by Deb Weinkauff.
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