Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) through January 12, 2025. Developed as a collaboration between the Vilcek Foundation and the School for Advanced Research (SAR), the exhibition includes more than 100 historic and contemporary works of Pueblo pottery.

Grounded in Clay is unique for its curatorial model: The Vilcek Foundation worked with SAR to convene a group of 68 community curators, known as the Pueblo Pottery Collective, for the exhibition. The collective includes more than 60 Native American artists and community members, as well as non-Native stewards of Pueblo art and culture. 

Curators selected works of pottery from the Vilcek Collection and the collections of the Indian Arts Research Center at the SAR for Grounded in Clay, and contributed essays on the works selected.  Their reflections and insights provide context to the works, and into the living traditions of pottery-making in Pueblo communities. A catalog with all of the curators’ essays is available from Merrell Publishers, and as an audiobook on Audible, Spotify, Audiobooks.com, and Google Play.

Community Voices

Albert Alvidrez is a former governor of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, a potter, and one of the community curators for Grounded in Clay. He reflected, “This exhibit is like no other and holds the creative voices of living artists who further continue to cherish and expand the tradition of pottery making. Bringing community curators together from Pueblo nations gave voice to the deep-rooted meaning of our pottery traditions. The efforts of SAR, the Vilcek Foundation, and the Pueblo Pottery Collective have provided audiences of many walks an opportunity to learn, experience, and interact with a timeless tradition that continues to persevere.”

Alvidrez continued: “Grounded in Clay reaching Texas soil is an important journey as it further narrates the living traditions that are collectively shared amongst Pueblo nations including the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the oldest community in the state of Texas.”

Moving Museums Forward

Gary Tinterow, Director and The Margaret Alkek Williams Chair of the MFAH, commented, “We are honored to bring centuries of the timeless work and the enduring voices of Indigenous communities to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exceptional collaboration among American museums and the Vilcek Foundation speaks to the essential need to carry these traditions forward.”

“The most rewarding part of this exhibition has been the collaboration and relationships that made it possible.” said Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel. “We are honored by the graciousness of SAR and the Pueblo communities who welcomed us as partners. Working collectively allowed us to create an exhibition that centers the voices, knowledge, and decisions of Native Americans. It is my hope that Grounded in Clay may serve as a touchstone in the decolonization of museum institutions and practices in the United States.”

Exhibition Schedule

Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery is on view at MFA Houston from October 20, 2024, through January 12, 2025. The exhibition will subsequently be presented at the Saint Louis Art Museum in St. Louis, Missouri, from March 7, 2025, through September 14, 2025.

The exhibition was previously on view at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from July 31, 2022 through May 29, 2023, and at the Vilcek Foundation and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from July 13, 2023 through June 4, 2024.