February 6, 2025—Albuquerque, New Mexico—Pueblo pottery has long been exhibited and interpreted in the academic and museum worlds through singular, often generic, points of view: as ethnographic remnants of the archaeological past or as fine art examples aligned with milestones in Western art history and culture. Organized by the School for Advanced Research (SAR) and the Vilcek Foundation, Grounded in Clay: The Spirit of Pueblo Pottery, 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. The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC) in Albuquerque, established by the 19 Pueblos of New Mexico in 1976, will welcome the exhibition and pottery vessels home, to the Southwest, in 2026 as the final leg of the exhibition’s four-year national tour. Grounded in Clay opens to the public in March 2026 at the IPCC during the Center’s 50th anniversary, and visitors can experience it in the South Gallery for a full year. The IPCC will include a selection of the IPCC’s Pueblo pottery collection to honor the deeply meaningful partnership with SAR and the Vilcek Foundation as the “coming home,” host venue for Grounded in Clay.
“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 Monique Fragua (Jemez Pueblo), Chief Operating Officer and incoming President/Chief Executive Officer, IPCC.
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. This truly is a homecoming.”
Originating in the cradle of 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 22 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 Home,” said Amy G. Johnson (Isleta Pueblo), Curator of Collections, IPCC.
During the year-long run of Grounded in Clay in the IPCC’s South Gallery, the IPCC will present public programming including panel discussions and art demonstrations by members of the Pueblo Pottery Collective. Further augmenting the visitor experience, the IPCC’s Artists Circle Gallery and Art Through Struggle Gallery will feature Pueblo pottery-inspired exhibitions during the 50th anniversary year.
“We look forward to the new dialogue that Grounded in Clay brings to the museum. We are ecstatic to be part of the full circle of this exhibition that began on the 100th anniversary of the IARC collection and ends during the 50th anniversary of the IPCC,” said Dr. Michelle Lanteri, Head Curator, IPCC.
Organized by SAR and the Vilcek Foundation, 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.
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 ending to the tour than bringing the pottery home 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.”