"I make many, many sheep," Lozano says with a laugh.

Lozano's efforts have also recently earned him a national Fund for Folk Culture Award, underwritten by the Ford Foundation, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation.

"It's a very prestigious award," says Carol Edison, folk arts program manager for the Utah Arts Council. "He is one of only 26 recipients nationwide who received the grant."

Part of the grant money will be used to make a series of retablos contrasting the sheep-herding culture of the West with the llama-herding culture of the Andes.

Lozano is also a past recipient of Utah Governor's Folk Arts Award. "He's such an amazing artist, such an amazing person," Edison says. "He's always so happy, so upbeat."

Equally amazing is the story of how he got where he is today.

While studying folk arts in Peru, Lozano learned many of the traditional folk dances so he could depict dancers in his retablos. He was invited to come to Utah as part of a folk-dancing group participating in a festival held in Bountiful in 1994.

"Early in his life, he had been in a car accident and had developed hearing problems," Edison explains. Working with the people he met at the festival, he was able to obtain help and sponsors so he could stay for surgeries to help his hearing.

And while all that was going on, he received word that "my parents and many friends were killed by the 'Shining Path' terrorist group. I was warned not to return to my village. Because of this I have no reason to return to Peru at this time."

Lozano now has INS status as an "artist of extraordinary merit," says Edison.

In addition to doing his art work, Lozano works full time as a janitor and attends classes at Salt Lake Community College. He is studying English, which is actually his third language; he grew up speaking Quechua and learned Spanish when he was 16. But he is also talking other classes. "I would like to become a teacher," he says.

Since coming to Utah, he has included local culture in his retablos, depicting such things as Joseph Smith's vision, pioneers, rodeo scenes and more. "Any customs of the U.S. I now mix with those of my own culture of Peru," he says. The Nativity story is still a popular subject, as is music, dance and other celebrations. "It should depict a custom or tell a dramatic story," he explains. "Think of it like a stage play with all of the actors on the stage at one time. It can be happy or sad or funny."

Lozano explains how he makes the figures: boiling up a mixture of flour and water to make a dough that is then mixed with a small amount of plaster of Paris. The figures are all modeled by hand. "The exterior of the box is traditionally painted with multi-color designs based on stylized plants and flowers or woven textile patterns," he explains.

Lozano has traveled throughout the state teaching people, particularly children, to make retablos. One of his favorite groups were some Navajo children in Bluff. "They loved my name. They confused it with their chief, Geronimo."

It is fun, he says, to share your culture. It is fun to share the things that make you unique. It is fun to be able to communicate without words.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com