Otellie Loloma (December 30, 1921 — January 30, 1993) was a

Hopi The Hopi are a Native American ethnic group who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona, United States. As of the 2010 census, there are 19,338 Hopi in the country. The Hopi Tribe is a sovereign nation within the Unite ...

Native American artist, specializing in pottery and dance. Additionally, she worked with her husband

Charles Loloma Charles Sequevya Loloma (January 7, 1921 — June 9, 1991) was an American artist of indigenous Hopi descent. He was a highly influential Native American jeweler during the 20th century. He popularized use of gold and gemstones not previously use ...

on jewelry design.

Early life and education

Otellie Pasiyava was raised on a Hopi reservation at

Second Mesa, Arizona Second Mesa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Navajo County, Arizona, on the Hopi Reservation, atop the 5,700-foot (1,740 m) mesa. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 962, spread among three Hopi Indian villages, Musungnuvi (or M ...

, and educated in schools run by the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

. She made clay objects from childhood, but began formal training in pottery at age 23, when she was invited to study on a scholarship at the School of the American Craftsman at

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred (village), New York, Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The ...

. She also attended

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

and the

College of Santa Fe Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) was a private, for-profit art school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The university was built from the non-profit College of Santa Fe (CSF), a Catholic facility founded as St. Michael's College in 1859, an ...

Career

Otellie Loloma ran a shop at the Kiva Craft Center in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

with her husband in the 1950s. She was one of the first instructors hired for the Southwest Indian Art Project in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, a summer institute funded by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

in 1960 to 1961. She joined the faculty of the

Institute of American Indian Arts The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) is a public tribal land-grant college in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The college focuses on Native American art. It operates the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA), which is housed in the historic S ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

, when it opened in 1962, a position she held until her retirement in 1988. One of her notable students was potter

Robert Tenorio Robert Tenorio (born December 29, 1950) is a Kewa (Santo Domingo) potter. Early life Robert Tenorio was born on December 29, 1950, on the Kewa Pueblo to parents Andrew and Juanita Tenorio, members of the Fire Clan. His paternal grandmother was ...

(

Kewa Pueblo Kewa Pueblo ( Eastern Keres , Keres: ''Díiwʾi'', Navajo: ''Tó Hájiiloh'') is a federally-recognized tribe of Native American Pueblo people in northern New Mexico, in Sandoval County southwest of Santa Fe. The pueblo is recorded as the Santo ...

). In 1991, she was honored with a

Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award The Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award was established under the presidency of Lee Ann Miller (1978–80). Joan Mondale, artist and wife of vice-president Walter Mondale, helped to secure approval for a national award honoring women' ...

. In addition to her expertise in pottery, Loloma taught Native American dance with colleague

Josephine Myers-Wapp Josephine Myers-Wapp (February 10, 1912 – October 26, 2014) was a Comanche weaver and educator. After completing her education at the Haskell Institute, she attended Santa Fe Indian School, studying weaving, dancing, and cultural arts. After he ...

(

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

); they performed at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

with their students. In 1970, she was one of two women among eight diverse artists featured in an ABC documentary, "With These Hands: The Rebirth of the American Craftsman," along with

Paul Soldner Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Peter Voulkos Peter Voulkos (born Panagiotis Harry Voulkos; 29 January 1924 – 16 February 2002) was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic ...

Dorian Zachai Dorian (Dohrn) Zachai (1932 – 2015) was an American fiber artist. Her work was included in the 1963 exhibition ''Woven Forms'' at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City. She is considered an important innovator in the field of fiber ...

(the other woman artist),

Clayton Bailey Clayton George Bailey (March 9, 1939 – June 6, 2020), was an American artist who worked primarily in the mediums of ceramic and metal sculpture. Early life and education Clayton George Bailey was born on March 9, 1939 in Antigo, Wisconsin. In ...

James Tanner James Tanner is an English chef and television personality, best known for co-owning the Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth and cooking on various TV programmes. In 1999, Tanner and his brother Chris set up Tanners Restaurant in Plymouth. Sinc ...

Harry Nohr Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

, and J. B. Blunk.

Personal life

Otellie Pasiyava married Hopi jewelry designer

in 1947, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1965. Otellie Loloma died in 1993, age 71.

Public collections

Works by Otellie Loloma are included in the permanent collections at the

Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian–New York, the George Gustav Heye Center, is a branch of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in Manhattan, New York City. The museum is part of the Smi ...

, 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 ...

, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum and the

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his ...

, among other institutions. Her nephew Nathan Begaye became an artist in pottery after his aunt. Her other notable students included painter

Dan Namingha Dan Namingha (born 1950, Keams Canyon, Arizona) is a Hopi painter and sculptor. He is Dextra Quotskuyva's son, and a great-great-grandson of Nampeyo. He is a member of the Hopi-Tewa member of the Hopi Tribe. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. E ...

. Her friend and IAIA colleague, poet James A. McGrath, wrote a book of poems about (and dedicated to) Otellie Loloma, titled ''The Sun is a Wandering Hunter'' (2014).James McGrath, ''At the Edgelessness of Light: Poems'' (Sunstone Press 2005): 38.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loloma, Otellie 1993 deaths Native American potters American potters American women ceramists Hopi people 20th-century American ceramists 1921 births Institute of American Indian Arts faculty Native American women artists Women potters 20th-century American artists 20th-century American women artists American women academics 20th-century Native American artists 20th-century Native American women