Martinez, Adam and Santana

A member of San Ildefonso Pueblo, Adam Martinez (1903-2000) was Julian Martinez and Maria Martinez oldest son. He grew up in a home full of highly respected potters but he was never really interested. He did help Julian gather and process clay and collect firewood and manure for the firings.

Santana Roybal (1909-2002) was born into a different family of well-known San Ildefonso potters and painters. She grew up learning how to make pots from her grandmother, Dominguita Pino Martinez.

Santana and Adam were married in 1926 and they lived in Maria and Julian’s home for the next 8 years. During that time Santana learned Maria’s way of making pots and Julian’s methods of painting them.

After Julian passed away in 1943, Adam and Santana dedicated themselves to helping Maria continue with her business. Adam took over his father’s duties with gathering and processing clay and firing pots. Santana worked with Maria making pots and painting them. The signature on most of Maria’s pottery made through those years (1943-1956) reads “Marie + Santana”. Those years were Maria’s most prolific years.

In 1956 Maria began working with her youngest son, Popovi Da. Adam and Santana graduated to making pottery on their own. Their signature became “Santana + Adam”.

They were participants every year at the Santa Fe Indian Market from 1970 to 1999, winning several First, Second and Third Place ribbons plus Best of Class and Best of Division. In 1981 they earned the “Maria Poveka Award for Best Traditional San Ildefonso Pottery.”

Andrea held an Indian Market Reception in the gallery featuring Adam and Santana on August 16, 1996. It was an evening cherished by all who came.

Adam and Santana had seven children and they taught most of them how to make pottery the traditional way.

Some exhibits that featured Works by Adam and Santana

• Awa Tsireh: Pueblo Painter and Metalsmith. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 4, 2017 – July 1, 2018. Note: curated by Diana F. Pardue and Norman Sandfield; accompanied by a catalog
• A Century of Pueblo Painters: San Ildefonso Pueblo 1900-1999. Adobe Gallery. Santa Fe, New Mexico. March 3, 2017 – April 30, 2017. Group show and sale with the following artists: José Angela Aguilar, Gilbert Atencio, Popovi Da, Tony Da, Louis Gonzales, Julián Martinez, Richard Martinez, Santana Roybal Martinez, José Encarnacion Peña, Tonita Vigil Peña, Tony Pena, Alfonso Roybal, José Disiderio Roybal, Tonita Roybal, Abel Sanchez, Romando Vigil, and Tomacito Vigil.
• Something Old, Something New, Nothing Borrowed: New Acquisitions from the Heard Museum Collection. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. April 2, 2011 – March 18, 2012
• Gifts from the Community. Heard Museum West. Surprise, AZ. April 12, 2008 – October 12, 2008
• Home: Native Peoples in the Southwest. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. 2005
• The Collection Passions of Dennis and Janis Lyon. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. May 1, 2004 – September 1, 2004
• A Revolution in the Making: The Pottery of Maria and Julian Martinez. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. May 10, 2003 – September 14, 2003
• Hold Everything! Masterworks of Basketry and Pottery from the Heard Museum. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. November 1, 2001 – March 10, 2002
• Passionate Involvement: Recent Acquisitions of the Heard Museum. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. March 1, 2001 – October 1, 2001
• The Legacy of Generations: Pottery by American Indian Women. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ. February 14, 1998 – May 17, 1998
• The Legacy of Generations: Pottery by American Indian Women. The Museum of Women in the Arts. Washington, DC. October 9, 1997 – January 11, 1998
• Recent Acquisitions from the Herman and Claire Bloom Collection. Heard Museum. Phoenix, AZ January 11, 1997 – July 1,1997
• 1979 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 21, 1979 – December 3, 1979
• 1978 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 24, 1978 – December 2, 1978
• The Martinez Tradition. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. April 29, 1978 – August 30, 1978
• 1977 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. November 25, 1977 – December 3, 1977
• 1969 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts and Crafts Show. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. 1969
• 1968 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts and Crafts Show. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. 1968

Some Awards earned by Adam and Santana

• 1990 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface, Category 1108 – Plates: Third Place
• 1986 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface: Best of Division with Adam Martinez
• 1986 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface, Category 1101 – Jars up to 8 inches tall: Second Place
• 1986 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface, Category 1103 – Bowls: First Place
• 1984 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface: Best of Division with Adam Martinez
• 1984 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Traditional pottery, painted designs on burnished black or red surface: Category 1101 – Jars up to 8 inches tall: First Place. Awarded for collaborative artwork with Adam Martinez
• 1983 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division B – Traditional, undecorated: Third Place
• 1979 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Classification VII – Pottery, Division A – Traditional methods of construction and firing: Honorable Mention. Awarded for artwork: Mat Design Bowl
• 1978 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Classification VII – Pottery, Division A – Traditional: First Place shared with Adam Martinez. Awarded for artwork: Wedding jar
• 1978 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Classification VII – Pottery, Division A – Traditional: Honorable Mention shared with Adam Martinez. Awarded for artwork: Small jar
• 1977 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Classification VII – Pottery, Division A – Traditional shapes and design: Second Place with Adam Martinez. Awarded for artwork: Large bowl with lid
• 1969 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Exhibit, Classification X – Pottery, Division A – Traditional as to materials, methods, shape, and design: Third Place
• 1968 Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts & Crafts Show, Classification IX – Pottery, Division A – Traditional materials, methods and design: First Place with Adam Martinez. Awarded for artwork: Feather Design Jug
• 1922 Southwest Indian Fair and Arts and Crafts Exhibition: Drawings of Pottery Designs: Pupils of Pueblo Day School: First Place. National Guard Armory, Santa Fe, New Mexico. September 1922. Note: awarded the Dougan Fund Prize of $2.00