Burnished: Pueblo Pottery at NMWA
Burnished: Pueblo Pottery at NMWA is the National Museum of Women in the Arts’ first focus exhibition devoted to its pottery collection. It brings together 24 clay vessels by women Pueblo potters, including ollas, jars, and bowls representing the distinct traditions and material cultures of communities such as San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Acoma, and Hopi-Tewa.
The exhibition traces a living artistic tradition that has continued for more than two thousand years in the American Southwest. Pueblo women have preserved and advanced pottery-making knowledge through generations of family members, and the presentation includes both recent acquisitions and longstanding works donated by NMWA founders Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and Wallace F. Holladay, as well as works from their son Hap Holladay’s collection. It follows NMWA’s 1998 museum survey dedicated to women Pueblo potters and forms part of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, a Craft in America initiative.
When: May 8 through September 27, 2026
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours may change; visitors should check NMWA’s visit-planning information for updates.
Venue: National Museum of Women in the Arts
Location: Teresa Lozano Long Gallery on the ground floor
Tickets: Price information is not available. The museum advises visitors to reserve a spot.
Featured artists: Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso; Margaret Tafoya, LuAnn Tafoya, and Stephanie Tafoya of Santa Clara; Emma Lewis Mitchell and Dorothy Torivio of Acoma; Iris Youvella Nampeyo of Hopi-Tewa; Lucy Martin Lewis; Lisa Holt; Harlan Reano; and other Pueblo artists.
Works highlighted: The exhibition includes Maria and Julian Martinez’s circa-1939 blackware jar, Margaret Tafoya’s circa-1965 blackware jar, LuAnn Tafoya’s 1996 redware jar with bear-paw imprints, Lucy Martin Lewis’s 1983 earthenware jar, Stephanie Tafoya’s 2025 redware work *Ember Embrace*, and a 2025 natural-clay jar with acrylic paint by Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano.
Background: Maria Martinez carried forward the pottery traditions of San Ildefonso Pueblo for more than eight decades. Margaret Tafoya is known for large, distinctive vessels and carved surface decoration, while LuAnn Tafoya continues her mother’s Santa Clara pottery legacy through polished vessels marked with Pueblo symbols.
Accessibility: Digital gallery labels are available in a scalable format for easier reading during a gallery visit or afterward.
Organization: The exhibition is organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts and supported by NMWA members.