Anita Louise Suazo (born May 13, 1937) is a Native American potter from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, United States.

Background

She is the daughter of Ernesto Tapia and noted potter Belen Tafoya Tapia (1914–1999). Anita's mother Belen was one of the innovators of finely crafted polychrome redwares. She was a first cousin to

Margaret Tafoya Maria Margarita "Margaret" Tafoya ( Tewa name: Corn Blossom; August 13, 1904 – February 25, 2001) was the matriarch of Santa Clara Pueblo potters. She was a recipient of a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for ...

. Growing up in a family of traditional potters, Anita began learning Santa Clara pottery techniques as a child from her mother.

Artwork

She works with her husband Joseph who helps her dig clay from the soil near Santa Clara. Her pots are made using the traditional, free hand coiling technique, polishing stones and native clays. Anita makes carved redware and blackware, polychrome redware, black melon pots and carved two-tone black on black pottery. She carves or decorates her pots with water serpents, rain clouds, kiva steps, feathers and other prehistoric stylized designs.

Awards and honors

Anita is recognized as a master potter. Since 1979, she has consistently won awards at the

Santa Fe Indian Market The Santa Fe Indian Market is an annual art market held in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the weekend following the third Thursday in August. The event draws an estimated 150,000 people to the city from around the world. The Southwestern Association for ...

and the Eight Northern Pueblos Indian Arts and Crafts Shows. In 1985, she participated in the Sid Deusch Gallery show in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with Margaret Tafoya and 42 other Santa Clara potters. In 1986 she received the

Jack Hoover Memorial Award Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

for excellence in Santa Clara pottery. She has taught workshops and given demonstrations on traditional Native American pottery techniques at the University of New Mexico and the University of California at Davis. Her pottery can be found in collections of the

Heard Museum The Heard Museum is a private, not-for-profit museum in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, dedicated to the advancement of American Indian art. It presents the stories of American Indian people from a first-person perspective, as well as exhibitio ...

in Phoenix, the Smithsonian Institution, the

Millicent Rogers Museum The Millicent Rogers Museum is an art museum in Taos, New Mexico, founded in 1956 by the family of Millicent Rogers. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated ...

Taos Taos or TAOS may refer to: Places * Taos, Missouri, a city in Cole County, Missouri, United States * Taos County, New Mexico, United States ** Taos, New Mexico, a city, the county seat of Taos County, New Mexico *** Taos art colony, an art colo ...

, the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, and in collections around the world.

External links

Anita Louise Suazo pottery at the Holmes Museum of Anthropology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Suazo, Anita Louise 1937 births Living people Santa Clara Pueblo potters Ceramists from New Mexico American potters American women potters 20th-century American ceramists 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American ceramists 21st-century American women artists 20th-century Native American artists 21st-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Native American women potters Native American potters

Background

Artwork

Awards and honors

Further reading

External links