Mint Museum Randolph 

Lonnie Vigil Modified Seed Jar, c. late 1980s Micaceous Earthenware Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice	Jacquie Stevens  Assymetrical Jar, 1990 Earthenware with Slip Paint Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice	Myron Sarracino Jar, 1995 Earthenware with Slip Paint Gift of Gretchen and Nelson Grice

Contemporary Native American ceramics constitute an on-going dialogue concerning the past, present and future. Embracing personal expression and cultural essence, the works and their underlying creative processes revitalize the individual, strengthen the community and ensure the future for Native peoples.  All vessels included in "The Shape of Life" are hand-built without the use of the potter's wheel. Most Native artists mine the clay and prepare the pastes and paints using local clays and natural coloring agents. Firing is typically done in open fires, rather than kilns. The compassion, vision and spiritual energies embedded within the creations convey delight, inspiration and introspection to the world at large.  Ceramics and silverware artists in this exhibition include: Blue Corn, Daryl Candelario, Rachel Concho, Hilda and Arthur Coriz, Laura Bugarini Cota, Bernard Dawahoya, Nicholas Ortic Estrada, Anita Fields, Margaret and Luther Gutierrez, Delores Histia, Randy Nahohai, Louis Naranjo, Felipe Ortega, Gregorio "Goyo" Silveira Ortiz, Virgil Ortiz, Andrew Padilla, Anderson Peynetsa, Hilario "Lalo" Corona Quesada, Octavio Silveira Sandoval, Myron Sarracino, Anita Suazo, Jacquie Stevens, Robert Tenorio, Adrian Trujillo, Ergil Vallo, Lonnie Vigil, and Kathleen Wall. For links to the sites for the individual artists, see The Nelson and Gretchen Grice Collection of Native American Art wiki page.

Online Resources

General Overview 

• Overview of pueblo indian pottery from the New Mexico Tourism Department. 
• A study of southwest pueblo pottery with a map, pueblo history and pottery making background information from Wichita State University's Holmes Museum of Anthropology.
• Detailed article on "Pottery by American Indian Women: The Legacy of Generations: the Avant-Garde" from Women Artists of the American West. 
• Article on contemporary pueblo pottery from the Denver Post. 
• Terminology related to pueblo ceramic vessels from Illinois Wesleyan University's Library. 
• Information on North American Pueblo Peoples from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. 
• Southwestern Indian Pottery collection from the School for Advanced Research's Indian Arts Research Center. 

Selected Pueblos and Tribes Featured in the Exhibition

• Acoma Pueblo
• Cochiti Pueblo   
• Hopi Tribe 
• Laguna Pueblo 
• Nambe Pueblo 
• Zuni Pueblo   

Interview with artist Lonnie Vigil from Nelson Atkins Museum

Print Resources from the Mint Museum Library 

• Beauty from the earth: Pueblo Indian pottery from the University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Philadelphia: The Museum, 1990.
• Cooper, Emmanuel. Contemporary Ceramics. London: Thames & Hudson, 2009.
• Dittert, Alfred Edward. Generations in clay: Pueblo pottery of the American Southwest. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Press, 1980. 
• Howard, Nancy Shroyer. Helen Cordero and the storytellers of Cochiti Pueblo. Worcester: Davis Publications, 1995.
• Passionate journey: the Grice collection of Native American art. Charlotte: The Mint Museum of Art, 2009. 
• Trimble, Stephen. Talking with the clay: the art of Pueblo pottery in the 21st century. Santa Fe, NM: School for Advanced Research Press, 2007. 

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Created by Nicole Jacobson, Intern for the Mint Museum Library