Luis Germán Cajiga

Cajiga was born on August 21, 1934 in barrio Cacao in Quebradillas, Puerto Rico.{{Cite web|url=https://www.elnuevodia.com/entretenimiento/cultura/nota/luisgermancagijasigueapostandoalartecostumbrista-2528627/|title=Luis Germán Cagija sigue apostando al arte costumbrista|date=November 10, 2019|website=El Nuevo Dia}}{{Cite web |title=About Me – Luis Germán Cajiga |url=https://estudiocajiga.com/about-me/ |access-date=2023-12-20 |language=en}} When he was a young man he moved to San Juan, where he studied graphic art. In 1955 he became a Seventh-day Adventist. While in the military he served in the Canal Zone in Panama, as a medic. In 1975 he got a master of arts degree in counseling and guidance at Interamerican University of Puerto Rico.{{Cite web|url=https://dialogue.adventist.org/2345/luis-g-cajigaa-dialogue-with-a-puerto-rican-artist|title=Luis G. Cajiga: Dialogue with a Puerto Rican Artist|website=College and University Dialogue|access-date=2018-09-28}}

He began his artistic education in the studio of the “División de Educación de la Comunidad en San Juan” (San Juan's Community Education Division). There, under the tutelage of Fran Cervoni, Cajiga furthered his interest for Old San Juan, a subject that to this day permeates his art.

Cajiga dedicated a great deal of his time on serigraphic work (silk-screening). During the early years, he prepared and printed the works of Homar and Tufiño. These in return provided him with support and instruction. He continued to perfect the technique, which remains a significant part of his current work. His first two oil paintings may be found in the palace of Santa Catalina and at the Museo de Arte de Ponce. "Calle Mercado" one of the two aforementioned oils was acquired by Governor Luis A. Ferré. Among his exhibiting venues in Puerto Rico are: Ateneo Puertorriqueño, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (Institute of Puerto Rican Culture), Museo de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico, Universidad Interamericana, Museo de Arte de Ponce, various educational and cultural centers in the island, and commercial galleries. Many of his paintings, especially posters, were printed by the artist from Adjuntas, Puerto Rico Don Samuel Maldonado Plaza in the 1980s. The printing was done in the silkscreen shop of Don Gildo Rivera Santiago in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Doris M. Vázquez, from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute considered him one of the most “outstanding artists of the fifties”. As a witness to that we find his artwork in the following collections:{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapr.org/Para-el-Artista/PROAArtistDetail.aspx?view=2&ID=1208&Lett=A&AID=fbca13dd-7eba-4e1b-8119-7247e2232394|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111035402/http://www.mapr.org/Para-el-Artista/PROAArtistDetail.aspx?view=2&ID=1208&Lett=A&AID=fbca13dd-7eba-4e1b-8119-7247e2232394|url-status=dead|title=Cajiga's work in various collections|archivedate=January 11, 2011}}

• Museum of History, Anthropology, and Art, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• The Governor's Mansion: La Fortaleza, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Museum of Art of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico

He produced a poster for the United States Hispanic Heritage Month in 1997,{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SDGB&p_theme=sdgb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=11113767A7D60440&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Three books for Hispanic Heritage|last=Rautzhan |first=Kendal A.|date=7 September 1997|work=The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) |accessdate=2009-05-12}} and a mural in New York for the Heineken Mural Art Series in 2002.{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3469/is_13_53/ai_85048337/|title=Heineken unveils monumental 'wallscape' murals by renowned Hispanic artists|date=1 April 2002|work=Modern Brewery Age|accessdate=2009-05-12}}

Cajiga has published five poetry books as well as novels and short stories. Of notable mention is the book “Génesis: Décimas” a poetic transcription of the Book of Genesis published by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He has also published various works of a religious nature as well as vegetarian recipe books. He hasn't died yet.

Cajiga has been featured in various publications.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mapr.org/Para-el-Artista/PROAArtistDetail.aspx?view=2&ID=1208&Lett=A&AID=fbca13dd-7eba-4e1b-8119-7247e2232394|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111035402/http://www.mapr.org/Para-el-Artista/PROAArtistDetail.aspx?view=2&ID=1208&Lett=A&AID=fbca13dd-7eba-4e1b-8119-7247e2232394|url-status=dead|title=Cajiga in the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico|archivedate=January 11, 2011}}

• Catalogues:
• Babín, María Teresa. Programa de la Cultura Puertorriqueña.
• "Fuego Divino", Libro de Poemas Ilustrados.
• "Pintores Puertorriqueños Contemporáneos", San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• "Portafolio", Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1958.
• "Pintores Puertorriqueños", Portafolio Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Magazines/Journals:
• Boletín Academia de Artes y Ciencia, núm. 2,Tomo IV, 1969.
• Newspaper Articles:
• Periódico El Mundo, Suplemento Dominical, (San Juan, PR), 11 de julio de 1971.
• Periódico El Nuevo Día, (San Juan, PR), 28 de agosto de 1976.
• Periódico El Mundo, (San Juan, PR), 27 de marzo de 1974.
• Periódico El Mundo,(San Juan, PR), 26 de septiembre de 1976.
• Periódico El Mundo, (San Juan, PR), 18 de enero de 1976.
• Periódico La Hora, 27 de septiembre de 1973. The San Juan Star, (San Juan, PR), 19 de enero de 1975.
• Periódico El Mundo, (San Juan, PR), 4 de octubre de 1973.
• Periódico El Mundo, (San Juan, PR), 14 de enero de 1975.

• 1957- Puerto Rico Fire Department Contest - 2nd Place
• 1965- IBEC, Caguas, Puerto Rico - 1st Place
• 1969- San Juan Town Hall Contest - 2nd Place
• 1972- Sterling House, Christmas Plate Design Contest
• High Council of Art- Agüeybana de Oro
• Libre Empresa Award
• Support from UNESCO-Puerto Rico has brought his artwork to Latin America and the European Union.

• List of Puerto Ricans

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.estudiocajiga.com Estudio Cajiga]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUgsGTqy77U Chat with beloved Puerto Rican painter] (Spanish)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20100509145700/http://www.icp.gobierno.pr/editorial/PDF/catalogo_publicaciones-07.pdf ‘‘Publications by the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture'']
• [http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/3/84.03.08.x.html An outstanding artist along the lines of Homar and Tufiño]
• [http://www.flmm.org/casa.htm Cajiga at Fundacion Luis Muñoz Marín]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090306133046/http://www.intercesorespuertorico.com/guia_intercesores.pdf Cajiga paints the Coat of Arms of his hometown, Quebradillas]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050423190955/http://www.universia.pr/servicios/biblioq/arte/tio.rtf Cajiga the first lithographer on tin in Puerto Rico]

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Category:1934 births

Category:Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni

Category:Living people

Category:People from Quebradillas, Puerto Rico

Category:Puerto Rican painters

Category:Puerto Rican Seventh-day Adventists

Category:Converts to Adventism