Pablita Velarde's Legacy: The Pueblo Artisans of the Southwest
Meet some Pueblo artisans who are sustaining the ancient crafts of their tribes, thanks in part to an iconic painter who documented her culture's traditions—and defied them.
Dear Friends,
Born in 1918 at Santa Clara Pueblo, a Native American village in New Mexico, Pablita Velarde broke with the traditions of her culture to become the first professional female artist from the Pueblos. It’s therefore ironic that some of Velarde’s most beloved works, which have been collected around the world, documented the daily lives, rituals, and traditions of her people, which she held very dear. And many of those time-honored crafts and customs are still alive and well in the Southwest region today, thanks in part to Velarde’s artistic legacy.
Although it’s not easy or common for outsiders to visit the Pueblo communities and observe their master artisans at work, we were able to do so with this story because of the unusual ties its author and photographer have to the region’s Native American cultures. Both have lived and worked in Northern New Mexico for decades, building trust and relationships along the way. The result is a beautiful, intimate portrait of some of the many Pueblo craftspeople who are keeping their traditional arts alive today. I hope you’ll enjoy our latest feature story, “Pablita Velarde’s Legacy: The Pueblo Artisans of the Southwest,” written by Daniel Gibson and photographed by Kitty Leaken.
We have just two stories left in our Fall issue on “Native American Craft: The Southwest," and then we’ll be taking our usual hiatus from weekly publishing until early January, when we’ll be back with a new issue focused on stonework, past and present.
In the meantime, I hope you'll always find something intriguing to read, watch, or listen to within our pages—currently free of charge, and free of ads. We welcome your thoughts via email, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Thank you for reading and sharing our stories, for donating to our cause when you can, and for being such a loyal part of the Craftsmanship community.
Sincerely,
Todd Oppenheimer
Editor & Publisher, Craftsmanship Quarterly
Native American Craft: The Southwest
In our first issue on Native American craft, which we hope will be joined by others in the coming years, we look at the unusually rich and varied craft traditions of some of the Southwest’s Indian tribes. These communities rarely let outsiders see much of their cultural practices, but thanks to the tireless work of a few New Mexico writers and others, who have spent years developing relationships with members of the region’s tribes, we can offer you a glimpse into the work of some remarkable Indigenous artists and artisans.
