Laurencita R. Herrera (1912–1984) was a renowned Native American Cochiti Pueblo artist, specializing in traditional Cochiti figurative pottery called storytellers and her pottery vessels. She is of the Herrera family, a renowned family of Pueblo potters in New Mexico, whose work is often found in

art collections A museum is distinguished by a collection of often unique objects that forms the core of its activities for exhibitions, education, research, etc. This differentiates it from an archive or library, where the contents may be more paper-based, repla ...

and in art museums. She was an actively making pottery between the 1930s through the 1970s and is known as one of the, "finest Cochiti potters of that era".

About

Laurencita R. Herrera was born in 1912 at Cochiti Pueblo in Cochiti, New Mexico. She started learning pottery making from her mother Reyes Romero (ca. 1890 -?). She was married to Cochiti Pueblo drum maker, Nestor Herrera. Together they had nine children and two of her daughters were potters, Seferina Ortiz (née Herrera) and Mary Francis Herrera. Many of her grandchildren are potters and artists, including

Inez Ortiz Juanita Inez Ortiz, also known as Inez Ortiz (1960 – 2008) was a Native American Cochiti Pueblo artist, specializing in pottery. She is of the Herrera family of Pueblo potters in New Mexico, whose work is often found in art collections and in a ...

, Virgil Ortiz, Joyce Lewis (née Ortiz), Janice Ortiz, Mary Ramona Herrera, and even some of her great grandchildren, including

Lisa Holt Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), ...

. The Cochiti Pueblo has documented storyteller pottery for sale to tourists as early as the 1870s, however the tradition had become less popular until 1964, when

Helen Cordero Helen Cordero (June 15, 1915 – July 24, 1994) was a Cochiti Pueblo potter from Cochiti, New Mexico. She was renowned for her storyteller pottery figurines, a motif she invented, based upon the traditional "singing mother" motif. Early work ...

created the first revival of the Cochiti storyteller figure due to a request from her patron, Alexander Girard. A number of artists at the time started creating pottery of either animal figurines, adult figures holding drums or pots ("singing ladies"), and/or adult figures singing to a baby in their arms ("singing mothers"), including artists Laurencita Herrera, Damacia Cordero, Teresita Romero. Her artwork is on permanent display at the

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, located in Albuquerque, is owned and operated by the 19 Indian Pueblos of New Mexico and dedicated to the preservation and perpetuation of Pueblo Indian Culture, History and Art. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Cente ...

in Albuquerque, New Mexico and in the permanent museum collection at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico and in the Bandelier Museum within the Bandelier National Monument.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Laurencita 1912 births 1984 deaths Pueblo artists Native American potters American women ceramists American ceramists 20th-century American women artists Native American women artists Women potters Artists from New Mexico 20th-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women 20th-century ceramists