Cora L. Durand (August 23, 1902 - January 23, 1998) was a

Picuris Pueblo Picuris Pueblo (; Tiwa: P'įwweltha ’ī̃wːēltʰà is a historic pueblo in Taos County, New Mexico, United States. It is also a census-designated place (CDP) and a federally recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people. The 2010 ...

potter. Durand started working as a potter later in life, beginning in the 1950s. She helped maintain the traditional hand-built method for creating

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

ceous pottery. Her work is utilitarian and was meant to be used.

Biography

Durand was born on August 23, 1902, in

, where her father, Miguel Lopez, raised her. Durand married Roland Durand in the 1920s and the couple had four children. Before she started working as a potter, she held many different kinds of jobs, including working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Picuris Pueblo Day School, the Taos Pueblo Indian Hospital and in two different boarding schools in

Towaoc, Colorado Towaoc is a Census-designated place (CDP), a post office, and the capital of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe located on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The Towaoc post office has the ZIP Code 81334 ( p ...

and

Holbrook, Arizona Holbrook ( nv, Tʼiisyaakin) is a city in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city was 5,053. The city is the county seat of Navajo County. Holbrook was founded in 1881 or 1882, when the ...

. Her husband died in a car accident in the 1950s, which brought her back to Picuris. In Picuris, she began to work as a potter. Durand stayed active in the community, volunteering at the Picuris Catholic Church and involved in the Picuris Valley Home Extension Club. Durand died on January 23, 1998. She was buried in the Picuris Cemetery. A

historic marker A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

celebrates her contribution to preserving traditional pottery methods.

Work

Durand's

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and po ...

was intended by her to be used and was therefore utilitarian in design. She follows the tradition of the creation of hand-built,

ceous pottery which had been made for many years in Picuris and

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 col ...

. She sourced her own

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...

in the Picuris area. Durand's work had been influenced by potter, Juanita Martinez. Durand was part of a 1974

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

exhibition, representing the Picuris Pueblo pottery tradition. She also exhibited at the Bond House Museum and Cultural Center in 1987. Durand's pottery was featured at the Arizona State Museum's 1994 American Indian Pottery Fair. Her work was featured in the

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...

in 1996. By the 1990s, Durand was one of the last of her people working as a potter. She passed on her skills to her grandson, Anthony Durand, who started learning from her when he was seven years old.

References

External links

ClayHound Web - Picuris Pueblo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durand, Cora 1902 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American women artists 20th-century American ceramists American women potters Ceramists from New Mexico American potters Native American women potters People from Picuris Pueblo, New Mexico Pueblo potters 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women