Grounded in Clay
Play Full Video [26 Minutes]

Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery

• Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Santa Fe, 2022
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vilcek Foundation, New York, 2023
• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2024
• Saint Louis Art Museum, 2025

For centuries, Pueblo pottery has served not only as a utilitarian art form but also as a powerfully intangible element that sits at the very heart of Pueblo cultures. Whether it exists in the forefront of one person’s life or remains a gentle hum in the background of another, pottery and the clay from which it is born are reflected throughout the origins, histories, and homes of Pueblo families and communities.

Pueblo pottery vibrates with the stories and experiences of the those who made them, as well as the many people who have become a part of their history since then.  Centered around contemporary voices coming from Southwest Pueblo communities, this exhibition is a rare opportunity to explore these intrinsic relationships and stories from a first-person perspective.

Recognizing the diverse viewpoints and multitude stories held within and on the walls of these vessels, Grounded in Clay highlights just some of the thousands, if not millions, of stories that are contained within and spill forth from these vessels.

Thank you for being here and becoming a part of the history of these beings.

Thank you (English)

Dawaa’eh (Acoma/Laguna Keres)

Naitra (f.)/Wu’e (m.) (Santa Ana Keres)

Naitra (f.)/U’ee (m.) (Cochiti/Santo Domingo Keres)

Naidraa (f.)/u’u hee’ee (m.) (Zia Keres)

Askwali (f.)/ Kwakwhay (m.) (Hopi)

Hoiyú (Piro)

Kú’daawó’háa (Tewa)

HerKem (f.)/Hawu (m.) (Isleta/Ysleta del Sur Tiwa)

Kheurkem (f.)/Haweu (m.) (Sandia Tiwa)

Ta’ah (Taos Tiwa)

Che,na,ho (f.)/ Ta,a (m.) (Picuris Tiwa)

Taykonompa (Towa)

eh’lah:kwa (Zuni)

Gracias (Spanish)

––The Pueblo Pottery Collective

Grounded in Clay is a collaborative exhibit curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective and organized by the School for Advanced Research and New York’s Vilcek Foundation, hosted by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The School for Advanced Research, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational institution, was established in 1907 to advance innovative social science and Native American art. Its 15-acre residential campus sits on ancestral lands of the Tewa people in O’gah’poh geh Owingeh or Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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