January 29, 2026 – Albuquerque, New Mexico – The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
(IPCC) is proud to announce that it will be hosting Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of
Pueblo Pottery as the headline program of the Center’s 50th anniversary year. The
exhibit will be on display from March 20, 2026 through February 21, 2027.
Organized by the School for Advanced Research (SAR) and the Vilcek Foundation,
Grounded in Clay, a unique traveling exhibition featuring over 100 historic and
contemporary works in clay, offers a visionary understanding of Pueblo pots as
vessels that carry community-based knowledge and personal experience. Curated
by the Pueblo Pottery Collective, this landmark exhibition marks an important shift
in the field for Pueblo artists and culture bearers to present these clay vessels to
the public as understood through a Pueblo community lens. Grounded in Clay offers
visitors a multivocal community dialogue through first-person stories and
reflections.
The IPCC welcomes the exhibition and pottery vessels back to the Southwest after a
four-year national tour that included the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; the
Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Vilcek Foundation; Museum of Fine Arts,
Houston; and the Saint Louis Art Museum. Grounded in Clay’s public reception at
the IPCC will be on March 21, 2026 from 5-8pm, followed by a “Meet a Grounded
in Clay Curator” gallery talk on March 22, 2026, from 1-3pm. The exhibition and its
associated events are generously supported by the First Nations Development
Institute and Noon Whistle Fund. Additionally, IPCC will be hosting a media day
with information on Grounded in Clay and our 50th anniversary exhibit and
programs. More information on this event will be available in the coming days.
“We are thrilled to present Grounded in Clay at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center,
especially as we celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2026. This exhibition offers a
meaningful opportunity to honor the rich traditions of Pueblo pottery and the
talented artists who have inspired generations. We are deeply grateful for the
partnerships that have made this exhibition possible and look forward to seeing who
it will connect with and inspire,” said IPCC President and CEO Monique Fragua
(Pueblo of Jemez).
SAR President Morris Foster adds, “Bringing Grounded in Clay back to its origin — in
the Southwest, in New Mexico — is meaningful for all those involved in the exhibit.
The IPCC is the ideal host for an exhibition assembled by members of the Pueblo
Pottery Collective.”
Originating in the Indigenous Southwest, Grounded in Clay was curated by the
Native American communities it represents. The project gives authority and voice to
the Pueblo Pottery Collective, a group of over 60 individual members of 21 tribal
communities. Each member selected and wrote about artistically or culturally
distinctive pots from two significant Pueblo pottery collections—the Indian Arts
Research Center (IARC) of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe and the
Vilcek Foundation in New York.
“A merging of my professional and personal lives was a welcome shift when I was
asked to be a part of the Pueblo Pottery Collective. My experience working with the
IPCC’s museum collection for the past 24 years allows me to add another layer to
the stories shared by the potters and other Collective members. It is a great honor
to share with our audience the Grounded in Clay experience, and to welcome these
powerful vessels back to New Mexico,” said IPCC Curator of Collections Amy G.
Johnson (Pueblo of Isleta).
During the year-long run of Grounded in Clay in the IPCC’s South Gallery, IPCC will
present programming including panel discussions and art demonstrations by
members of the Pueblo Pottery Collective.
“We look forward to the community first dialogue that Grounded in Clay will bring
to our local-to-global visitors this year in the 19 Pueblos District of Albuquerque.
We are honored to be a partner in the full circle of this trailblazing exhibition and
the Indigenous communities it directly represents,” said IPCC Head Curator Dr.
Michelle Lanteri.
As Vilcek Foundation President Rick Kinsel notes, “The response to the exhibition
as it has traveled across the country has been incredible. I cannot think of a better
time to bring the pottery back to the communities of New Mexico than in
celebration of the IPCC’s 50th anniversary. The community-curated model of
Grounded in Clay has helped to shift the curatorial paradigm, and I look forward to
seeing the wave of collaborative and community-driven exhibitions it inspires.”
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About Grounded in Clay:
Grounded in Clay debuted on July 31, 2022, on unceded Tewa Indian lands at the
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture in Santa Fe before traveling nationally to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Vilcek Foundation, New York in 2023; The
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston in 2024; and the Saint Louis Art Museum in 2025. The
exhibition celebrated the 100th anniversary of the creation of SAR’s Indian Arts
Research Center’s pottery collection in 1922. It also marked the institution’s
decades-long efforts to bridge the cultural needs and knowledge of Native
communities with its public education mission. For more information, please visit
groundedinclay.org.
About the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center:
Founded in 1976 by the 19 Pueblo tribes of New Mexico, the Indian Pueblo
Cultural Center is a world-class museum and cultural center located in the historic
19 Pueblos District. The mission of the IPCC Campus is to serve as a gathering place
where Pueblo culture is celebrated through creative and cultural experiences while
providing economic opportunities to Pueblo and local communities. Visitors can
learn fascinating history, shop for Native jewelry and art, watch a cultural dance,
hear Native languages and experience the flavors of traditional and contemporary
Native cuisine. To learn more, please visit: www.indianpueblo.org.
About the School for Advanced Research:
Established in 1907, the School for Advanced Research (SAR) advances creative
thought and innovative work in the social sciences, humanities and Native American
arts. SAR is home to the Indian Arts Research Center (IARC), a leader in community-
advised and collaborative Indigenous arts engagement and collections
management. Through scholar residency, seminar and artist fellowship programs,
SAR Press publications, and a range of public programs, SAR facilitates intellectual
inquiry and human understanding. SAR’s historic sixteen-acre campus sits on the
ancestral lands of the Tewa people in O’gah’poh geh Owingeh or Santa Fe, New
Mexico. SAR is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational institution.
About the Vilcek Foundation:
The Vilcek Foundation is a private operating foundation under IRS 501(c)(3) that
raises awareness of immigrant contributions in the United States and fosters
appreciation for the arts and sciences. The foundation was established in 2000 by
Jan and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia.
For more information, and to arrange for interviews and photographs, please
contact: Meredith Schweitzer, schweitzer@sarsf.org, 505.954.7251.