Grounded in Clay is a collaborative exhibit curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective and organized by the School for Advanced Research and the Vilcek Foundation.
EXHIBITION TOUR
JUL 13, 2023 – JUN 4, 2024
THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART & VILCEK FOUNDATION
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
OCT 20, 2024 – JAN 12, 2025
THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON
HOUSTON, TEXAS
MAR 9 – JUN 1, 2025
Saint Louis Art Museum
Saint Louis, Missouri
Special Online Presentation by the Vilcek Foundation
Pueblo Pottery: Stories in Clay
An especially notable contribution of the Vilcek Foundation to Grounded in Clay is a digital resource called Pueblo Pottery: Stories in Clay. This remarkable website takes viewers into the details of many of the ceramic objects included in the exhibition and, even more important, offers video and audio accounts of the objects’ cultural and personal meaning to members of the Pueblo Pottery Collective. The site also offers historical background on Pueblo societies and information on the significance of the Pueblo pottery tradition.
This resource is also accessible to visitors to the part of Grounded in Clay displayed at the Vilcek Foundation’s offices in New York (21 East 70th Street). Appointments to view the collection at the Vilcek Foundation can be made here.
An impressive survey of more than 100 pieces of historic Pueblo pottery, Grounded in Clay is remarkable for the fact that its content has been selected by Pueblo community members. Rather than relying on Anglo-American art historical interpretations, this book foreground Native American voices and perspectives. More than 60 participants from 21 Pueblo communities in the Southwest – among them potters and other artists, as well as writers, curators and community leaders – chose one or two pieces from the collections of the Indian Arts Research Center at the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Vilcek Collection in New York. They were then given the freedom to express their thoughts in whichever written form they wished, prose or poem. Their lively, varied contributions reveal the pottery to be not only a utilitarian art form but also a powerfully intangible element that sits at the heart of Pueblo cultures. With magnificent photography throughout, Grounded in Clay showcases the extraordinary history and beauty of Pueblo pottery while bringing to life the complex narratives and stories of this most essential of Native American arts.
GROUNDED IN CLAY IN THE WILD
The Met’s Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery (on through June 4/24) is a must-see - it showcases not only beautiful pottery but a different curatorial approach: it was developed by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, nearly 60 Pueblo community curators from the 21 Pueblo tribes in the US Southwest who each selected 1-2 works for the exhibition & wrote the related text (I include the curator for each piece in square brackets). I don’t have room here for the full stories of these pieces - more info is at groundedinclay.org. Other exhibition works are on view vilcekfoundation in NYC. The exhibition will travel next to mfahouston & then stlartmuseum.
📷 1 Exhibition entrance & Jar, Lonnie Vigil (Nambé, b. 1949), 1995 [Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha’p’o Owingeh/Santa Clara), describes Vigil’s process & the call of the clay]
📷 2 Jar, Mogollon artist, c. 1050-1300 [Tara Gatewood (Isleta/Diné) - vessel as a doorway to connect with those who came before, with designs echoed in modern pots]
📷 3 Bowl, Precontact Pueblo artist, c. 1150-1250 [LeeAndrea Bernal Trujillo (Taos), relates bowl to a pottery sherd found near her home]
📷 4 Bean pot with lid, Lorencita Pino (Tesuque, 1899-1986), 1963 [Mark Mitchell (Tesuque), grandson of artist, saw her make similar pieces]
📷 5 Figure of woman with bowl, Jeralyn Lujan Lucero (Taos), 1995 [Dr. Christina M. Castro (Taos, Jemez, Chicana), relative of artist, piece embodies spirit of Taos Pueblo women]
📷 6 Mono figure, Cochiti Pueblo artist, c. 1900 [Mateo Romero (Cochiti)]
📷 7 Storage jar, Acoma Pueblo artist, c. 1880 [Brian D. Vallo (Acoma), describes likely use & classic Acoma designs]
📷 8 Jar, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo (Tewa/Hopi, 1928-2019), 1980 [Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi)]
📷 9 Nahohai Tribute Pot, by 6 Zuni & Hopi potters, 2016 [Timothy Edaakie (Zuni, 1974-2020), 1 of 6 potters, honours Randy Nahohai, Zuni potter who revived Zuni pottery tradition]
📷 10 Yupkoyvi (The Place Beyond the Horizon), Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi, b. 1977), 2023 - Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon, sacred mountain & home to Chacoan Sun Dagger calendar
All 📷 imagesofantiquity / theflowoftravel (sandra.flow)
Apr 25
![The Met’s Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery (on through June 4/24) is a must-see - it showcases not only beautiful pottery but a different curatorial approach: it was developed by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, nearly 60 Pueblo community curators from the 21 Pueblo tribes in the US Southwest who each selected 1-2 works for the exhibition & wrote the related text (I include the curator for each piece in square brackets). I don’t have room here for the full stories of these pieces - more info is at groundedinclay.org. Other exhibition works are on view vilcekfoundation in NYC. The exhibition will travel next to mfahouston & then stlartmuseum.
📷 1 Exhibition entrance & Jar, Lonnie Vigil (Nambé, b. 1949), 1995 [Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha’p’o Owingeh/Santa Clara), describes Vigil’s process & the call of the clay]
📷 2 Jar, Mogollon artist, c. 1050-1300 [Tara Gatewood (Isleta/Diné) - vessel as a doorway to connect with those who came before, with designs echoed in modern pots]
📷 3 Bowl, Precontact Pueblo artist, c. 1150-1250 [LeeAndrea Bernal Trujillo (Taos), relates bowl to a pottery sherd found near her home]
📷 4 Bean pot with lid, Lorencita Pino (Tesuque, 1899-1986), 1963 [Mark Mitchell (Tesuque), grandson of artist, saw her make similar pieces]
📷 5 Figure of woman with bowl, Jeralyn Lujan Lucero (Taos), 1995 [Dr. Christina M. Castro (Taos, Jemez, Chicana), relative of artist, piece embodies spirit of Taos Pueblo women]
📷 6 Mono figure, Cochiti Pueblo artist, c. 1900 [Mateo Romero (Cochiti)]
📷 7 Storage jar, Acoma Pueblo artist, c. 1880 [Brian D. Vallo (Acoma), describes likely use & classic Acoma designs]
📷 8 Jar, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo (Tewa/Hopi, 1928-2019), 1980 [Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi)]
📷 9 Nahohai Tribute Pot, by 6 Zuni & Hopi potters, 2016 [Timothy Edaakie (Zuni, 1974-2020), 1 of 6 potters, honours Randy Nahohai, Zuni potter who revived Zuni pottery tradition]
📷 10 Yupkoyvi (The Place Beyond the Horizon), Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi, b. 1977), 2023 - Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon, sacred mountain & home to Chacoan Sun Dagger calendar
All 📷 imagesofantiquity / theflowoftravel (sandra.flow)](https://groundedinclay.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)
The Met’s Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery (on through June 4/24) is a must-see - it showcases not only beautiful pottery but a different curatorial approach: it was developed by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, nearly 60 Pueblo community curators from the 21 Pueblo tribes in the US Southwest who each selected 1-2 works for the exhibition & wrote the related text (I include the curator for each piece in square brackets). I don’t have room here for the full stories of these pieces - more info is at groundedinclay.org. Other exhibition works are on view vilcekfoundation in NYC. The exhibition will travel next to mfahouston & then stlartmuseum.
📷 1 Exhibition entrance & Jar, Lonnie Vigil (Nambé, b. 1949), 1995 [Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha’p’o Owingeh/Santa Clara), describes Vigil’s process & the call of the clay]
📷 2 Jar, Mogollon artist, c. 1050-1300 [Tara Gatewood (Isleta/Diné) - vessel as a doorway to connect with those who came before, with designs echoed in modern pots]
📷 3 Bowl, Precontact Pueblo artist, c. 1150-1250 [LeeAndrea Bernal Trujillo (Taos), relates bowl to a pottery sherd found near her home]
📷 4 Bean pot with lid, Lorencita Pino (Tesuque, 1899-1986), 1963 [Mark Mitchell (Tesuque), grandson of artist, saw her make similar pieces]
📷 5 Figure of woman with bowl, Jeralyn Lujan Lucero (Taos), 1995 [Dr. Christina M. Castro (Taos, Jemez, Chicana), relative of artist, piece embodies spirit of Taos Pueblo women]
📷 6 Mono figure, Cochiti Pueblo artist, c. 1900 [Mateo Romero (Cochiti)]
📷 7 Storage jar, Acoma Pueblo artist, c. 1880 [Brian D. Vallo (Acoma), describes likely use & classic Acoma designs]
📷 8 Jar, Dextra Quotskuyva Nampeyo (Tewa/Hopi, 1928-2019), 1980 [Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi)]
📷 9 Nahohai Tribute Pot, by 6 Zuni & Hopi potters, 2016 [Timothy Edaakie (Zuni, 1974-2020), 1 of 6 potters, honours Randy Nahohai, Zuni potter who revived Zuni pottery tradition]
📷 10 Yupkoyvi (The Place Beyond the Horizon), Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh-Hopi, b. 1977), 2023 - Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon, sacred mountain & home to Chacoan Sun Dagger calendar
All 📷 imagesofantiquity / theflowoftravel (sandra.flow)
Caught up on metmuseum exhibitions last week, including “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery,” which was curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group that includes sixty individual members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions, who represent twenty-one source communities.
“Pueblo Indian pottery embodies four main natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire. It is an art form literally of land and place and is one of America’s ancient Indigenous creative expressions.
Foregrounding Pueblo voices and aesthetics, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The effort features more than one hundred historical, modern, and contemporary clay works and offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery as community-based knowledge and personal experience.”
Selected works are the Indian Arts Research Center of the schoolforadvancedresearch and the vilcekfoundation
#ceramics #clay #pueblopottery #nativeamericanart #nativeamerican #nativeamericanpottery
#metropolitanmuseumofart #pueblopotterycollective #puebloceramics #claycommunity
#vilcekfoundation #indianartsresearchcenter #sar #museumexhibition #nativeamericanexhibition
#spiritofpueblo #groundedinclay #groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery #earth #air #water #fire
Jan 27
Caught up on metmuseum exhibitions last week, including “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery,” which was curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group that includes sixty individual members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions, who represent twenty-one source communities.
“Pueblo Indian pottery embodies four main natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire. It is an art form literally of land and place and is one of America’s ancient Indigenous creative expressions.
Foregrounding Pueblo voices and aesthetics, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The effort features more than one hundred historical, modern, and contemporary clay works and offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery as community-based knowledge and personal experience.”
Selected works are the Indian Arts Research Center of the schoolforadvancedresearch and the vilcekfoundation
#ceramics #clay #pueblopottery #nativeamericanart #nativeamerican #nativeamericanpottery
#metropolitanmuseumofart #pueblopotterycollective #puebloceramics #claycommunity
#vilcekfoundation #indianartsresearchcenter #sar #museumexhibition #nativeamericanexhibition
#spiritofpueblo #groundedinclay #groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery #earth #air #water #fire
Come on, #MetropolitanMuseum, you think I’m made out of eyeballs? This is #WilliamHJohnson in “The #HarlemRenaissance and Transatlantic Modernism;” #SheilaHicks, #OlgadeAmaral, and an unknown 16th-century Inca weaver in “ #WeavingAbstraction in Ancient and Modern Art;” and two late 19th-century Pueblo jars by #Arroh-a-och and someone from #AcomaPueblo, in “#GroundedinClay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery.” Whew!
Mar 21
Come on, #MetropolitanMuseum, you think I’m made out of eyeballs? This is #WilliamHJohnson in “The #HarlemRenaissance and Transatlantic Modernism;” #SheilaHicks, #OlgadeAmaral, and an unknown 16th-century Inca weaver in “ #WeavingAbstraction in Ancient and Modern Art;” and two late 19th-century Pueblo jars by #Arroh-a-och and someone from #AcomaPueblo, in “#GroundedinClay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery.” Whew!
#groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery #themet #onlystepsaway
Ever changing, always moving.
Clouds flow by and colours morph.
A passing glance, a double check.
A world above us, we never stand still.
#zenbugarts
#flowerbrick
#clouds #skies #slowdown #lookup #gardendaffodils #shropshirepotter #handbuiltceramics #slabbuilt #porcelainpaperclay #groundedinclay #stillness #potteryandsilks
Mar 11
Ever changing, always moving.
Clouds flow by and colours morph.
A passing glance, a double check.
A world above us, we never stand still.
#zenbugarts
#flowerbrick
#clouds #skies #slowdown #lookup #gardendaffodils #shropshirepotter #handbuiltceramics #slabbuilt #porcelainpaperclay #groundedinclay #stillness #potteryandsilks
Ceramics on View Now: “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery” metmuseum was curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group that includes sixty individual members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions, who represent twenty-one source communities. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication.
“Pueblo Indian pottery embodies four main natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire. It is an art form literally of land and place, and is one of America’s ancient Indigenous creative expressions.
Foregrounding Pueblo voices and aesthetics, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The effort features more than one hundred historical, modern, and contemporary clay works and offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery as community-based knowledge and personal experience.”
Selected works are the Indian Arts Research Center of the schoolforadvancedresearch and the vilcekfoundation
#ceramics #clay #pueblopottery #nativeamericanart #nativeamerican #nativeamericanpottery #metropolitanmuseumofart #pueblopotterycollective #puebloceramics #claycommunity #vilcekfoundation #indianartsresearchcenter #sar #museumexhibition #nativeamericanexhibition #spiritofpueblo #groundedinclay #groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery #earth #air #water #fire
Jan 6
Ceramics on View Now: “Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery” metmuseum was curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group that includes sixty individual members of diverse ages, backgrounds, and professions, who represent twenty-one source communities. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication.
“Pueblo Indian pottery embodies four main natural elements: earth, water, air, and fire. It is an art form literally of land and place, and is one of America’s ancient Indigenous creative expressions.
Foregrounding Pueblo voices and aesthetics, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is the first community-curated Native American exhibition in the history of The Met. The effort features more than one hundred historical, modern, and contemporary clay works and offers a critical understanding of Pueblo pottery as community-based knowledge and personal experience.”
Selected works are the Indian Arts Research Center of the schoolforadvancedresearch and the vilcekfoundation
#ceramics #clay #pueblopottery #nativeamericanart #nativeamerican #nativeamericanpottery #metropolitanmuseumofart #pueblopotterycollective #puebloceramics #claycommunity #vilcekfoundation #indianartsresearchcenter #sar #museumexhibition #nativeamericanexhibition #spiritofpueblo #groundedinclay #groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery #earth #air #water #fire
A self-taught traditional potter, Claudia Mitchell (Acoma) learned from watching her grandmother Lucy Lewis; mother, Emma; and aunts Dolores and Carmel. Her essay about a storage jar by Maria Cimarron is one of approximately 70 by mostly Pueblo people—artists, writers, historians, scientists, and political leaders—collected for "Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery," at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.
"Feeling the interior of the jar, where the potter placed her fingers and hands while shaping this piece, connects me not only to her but also to our shared past—a living past that is my present and future," she writes. "The use of ground sherds from older pots for the clay temper brings that past literally into our present, and when these pots are but pieces of the past, they too will carry on our pottery-making tradition."
📷katerussellphoto & schoolforadvancedresearch
📝Claudia Mitchell
🔗in bio to read more
#newmexicotrue #newmexicomagazine #pueblopottery #nativepottery #nativeart #museumofindianartsandculture #miac #schoolforadvancedresearch #pottery #clay #acomapueblo #groundedinclay #newmexicoart
Aug 18
A self-taught traditional potter, Claudia Mitchell (Acoma) learned from watching her grandmother Lucy Lewis; mother, Emma; and aunts Dolores and Carmel. Her essay about a storage jar by Maria Cimarron is one of approximately 70 by mostly Pueblo people—artists, writers, historians, scientists, and political leaders—collected for "Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery," at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.
"Feeling the interior of the jar, where the potter placed her fingers and hands while shaping this piece, connects me not only to her but also to our shared past—a living past that is my present and future," she writes. "The use of ground sherds from older pots for the clay temper brings that past literally into our present, and when these pots are but pieces of the past, they too will carry on our pottery-making tradition."
📷katerussellphoto & schoolforadvancedresearch
📝Claudia Mitchell
🔗in bio to read more
#newmexicotrue #newmexicomagazine #pueblopottery #nativepottery #nativeart #museumofindianartsandculture #miac #schoolforadvancedresearch #pottery #clay #acomapueblo #groundedinclay #newmexicoart
#met #womendressingwomen #groundedinclaythespiritofpueblopottery