Robert Tenorio

Robert Tenorio was born in 1950 and raised on the Santo Domingo Pueblo in northern New Mexico. He enrolled in the Institute of American Indian Arts to learn jewelry to help his family, which was a popular study at the time. But he found himself drawn to ceramics and spent many hours fiddling in the pottery studio. One day the pottery teacher, Otellie Loloma, wife of the famous jeweler, Charles Loloma, found him there and began to steer him away from jewelry.

When he returned to the Pueblo however, he no longer had access to the clays and kiln available to him in school, and so he began to learn the art of potting all over again. He began collecting native clays and experimenting with the traditional firing methods of his ancestors. Robert Tenorio began creating pots and canteens with the geometric designs, and polychrome jars characteristic of the centuries old style of his Santo Domingo forbearers.

Potting full time since 1970, Robert's work reflects his reverence for his heritage. His first award came from the Heard Museum in 1971 and since then he has won enough ribbons to "make two quilts!" he says laughing. One piece entered at the Santa Fe Indian Market was awarded in the new category it created, Prehistoric Pottery. Robert Tenorio has almost single-handedly revived the art of traditional Santo Domingo pottery.