This spring, the Vilcek Foundation’s traveling exhibition Grounded in Clay: the Spirit of Pueblo Pottery opened at the Saint Louis Art Museum, the penultimate stop of the exhibition tour. Grounded in Clay will be on display in St. Louis, Missouri, until September 14.

The unique collection contains over 100 historic and contemporary works that pay tribute to the pottery as vessels of community-based knowledge and personal history. 

Grounded in Clay originated in 2022 through a collaboration with the Vilcek Foundation and the School for Advanced Research (SAR). Conceived by Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel, the exhibition is rooted in indigenous knowledge and curated by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group of over 60 individuals from 21 tribal communities. 

“Our goal was to bring awareness to the rich histories of Native peoples, whose traditions and cultures are often silenced,” says Kinsel. “I am grateful to our partners at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the School for Advanced Research for continuing our vision to combat the erasure of Native voices. My hope is that the clear success of this exhibition will inspire other institutions to center historically underrepresented communities.”

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Pottery included in the exhibition spans centuries of Native American history, starting before the arrival of Europeans to contemporary pieces, from present day New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. Members of the Pueblo Pottery Collective selected pieces with particular cultural or artistic significance from the Vilcek Foundation collection and the Indian Arts Research Center at SAR. The exhibition catalogue features essays written by collective members about their pieces.

The exhibition was first displayed in 2022 at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe before traveling nationally to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vilcek Foundation in New York and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Grounded in Clay will be on display at the Saint Louis Art Museum through September 14, 2025, before making its final stop at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) in Albuquerque in March 2026. This will coincide with IPCC’s 50th anniversary and will mark a significant “coming home” for the Pueblo pottery.