The Patania Family Legacy
Tucson Family Creates a Legacy of Jewelry as Wearable Art
Patania Family Jewelry
Since opening the family business in Santa Fe, NM in 1927, the Patania family has always created distinctive jewelry that art collectors around world recognize and prize for uncompromising standards of excellence.
Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 1) - Epi. 107 Host Dr. Mark Sublette
Part one focuses on Frank Sr and their time in Santa Fe. We talk about how Frank Sr. got into the jewelry business, the opening of the first Thunderbird Shop in 1927 in Santa Fe, the second shop in Tucson in 1937, and finally the historic figures orbiting both shops in the mid 20th century.
Frank Patania Jr.: Renowned Santa Fe & Tucson Silversmith (Part 2) - Epi. 108 Host Dr. Mark Sublette
Part two focuses on Frank Patania Jr's own career and the process behind some of his most important works. We hear about Frank using styrofoam to cast a 9ft tall cross in aluminum and passing the literal and figurative torch to his son Sam the third generation Thunderbird silversmith. I wanted to explore Frank Patania Jr's career and life experiences in Santa Fe and Tucson and the influence he had on the Patania family legacy and what is considered now to be Southwest jewelry.
Sam Patania: 3rd Generation Silversmith - Epi. 103, Host Dr. Mark Sublette
One of the best silversmiths in the business, Sam's has an amazing family history. He's a third-generation silversmith whose grandfather, Frank Patania Sr, opened the Thunderbird Shop in 1927 in Santa Fe and not long after that in 1937, came to Tucson.