Rosa Livia Estebañez (April 28, 1927 â December 17, 1991) was a Cuban and American sculptor, known for her large scale memorials and monuments. She lived in Petaluma, California for many years, where she owned an art gallery.
Rosa Livia EstebañezâÂÂMartinez was born in April 28, 1927, in the Luyanó neighborhood of Havana, Cuba. She graduated with a master's degree in 1951 from the National Art School (Escuelas Nacionales de Arte) in Havana.
She worked as the official sculptor for the Cuban government under President Fulgencio Batista, where she worked on the facades of many government buildings and created public monuments. Estebañez fled to the United States in 1960 with her young son Jorge, during the time when Carlos Manuel Piedra served as the interim President of Cuba right before Fidel Castro took power. They briefly lived in Florida, and settled in Petaluma, California to be near her brother. She was naturalized in the United States in 1964.
By the mid-1960s, Estebañez taught evening sculpture classes in adult education at Petaluma High School. Estebanez hosted a 7-part television series entitled, "How to Sculpt with Rosa" (1977) on KQED Open Studio. Estebañez opened an art gallery in 1978 named La Galeria de Rosa, in Petaluma. In the 1970s and 1980s, Estebañez started getting commissions from churches and local governments to make memorials and historical busts. Some of her notable works include the Fred J. Wiseman monument (1968), Bust of General Mariano G. Vallejo (1975), and the Bust of Bill Sobrates Arm Wresting (1988).
Her son Jorge EstebanezâÂÂRicoy died in 1979 at age 29, in a car accident. Rosa Estebañez died on December 16, 1991, in a hospital in San Rafael, California.
Estebañez's archives are at the Sonoma County Library. Her artwork is included in the collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.