Borts-Medlock, Autumn

Autumn Borts-Medlock was born into Santa Clara Pueblo in 1967. She grew up learning to make pottery by watching and helping her mother, Linda Cain, and grandmother, Mary Cain. Tammy Garcia is Autumn’s sister.

Autumn’s first creations were animal figurines and small pots. As she grew, so did her styles and designs. She says Nature provides her greatest inspiration but there’s also an old Georgia O’Keefe poster in her studio that jogs her inspiration when nothing else is working.

Autumn learned to work with different colors of clay and her pieces now often have four or five different colors accentuating her intricate carved designs.

In 2001, Autumn earned the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Collectors Choice Award. She earned ribbons at Santa Fe Indian Market in the years 2001-2004, 2006-2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, and in 2019 she earned a Best of Division ribbon and a First Place ribbon, both for her pottery.

At the Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market, she’s earned ribbons in the years 2004, 2006-2009, and 2012. There’s liable to be more we don’t know of.

Autumn’s work has been featured in exhibits at the Peabody Essex Museum of Harvard University, the American Craft Museum in New York City, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.

In 2019 her work was featured at the 2019 Yale University Art Gallery exhibition Pueblo Women’s Ceramics from the Patti Skigen Collection and at the Crocker Museum exhibition Pueblo Dynasties: Master Potters from Matriarchs to Contemporaries.

Some Exhibits that have featured Autumn’s work

  • Masters of the American West. Autry Museum of the American West. Los Angeles, California. February 7, 2020 – March 22, 2020. Note: group sale show
  • What’s New in New: Selections from the Carol Warren Collection. Lloyd Kiva New Gallery, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. Santa Fe, New Mexico. June 3, 2018 – February 26, 2019. Note: exhibiting works include art by artists Tony Abeyta, Autumn Borts-Medlock, Preston Duwyenie, Tammy Garcia, Dan Namingha, Les Namingha, Jody Naranjo, Roxanne Swentzell, and Tito Naranjo
  • Super Heroes: Art! Action! Adventure! Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. May 16, 2015
  • That’s The Way I Like It. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. April 26, 2014</li.
  • Breaking the Surface: Carved Pottery Techniques and Designs. Heard Museum. Phoenix, Arizona. October 2, 2004
  • Indian Market: New Directions in Southwestern Native American Pottery. Peabody Essex Museum. Salem, MA. November 16, 2001

Some Awards Autumn has earned

  • 2020 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division D – Figurative, native clay, hand built: Second Place
  • 2020 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification V – Sculpture, Division B – Bronze: Second Place. Awarded for artwork: “Chaco Parrot”
  • 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional burnished black or red ware, incised, painted or carved: Best of Division
  • 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional burnished black or red ware, incised, painted or carved, Category 702 – Carved or incised, black or red, over 8″: First Place
  • 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary Pottery, any form or design, using commercial clays/glazes, all firing techniques, Category 903 – Figures, including sets: First Place
  • 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification V – Sculpture, Division A – Representational Sculpture (realistic/stylized), Category 1902 – Cast Metal: First Place
  • 2018 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary Pottery, Any Form or Design, Using Commercial Clays/Glazes, All Firing Techniques, Category 904 – With Added Elements (Like Beads, Feathers, Stones, Etc.), Any Form: Second Place
  • 2018 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification V – Sculpture: Division B – Bronze: Second Place. Awarded for artwork: “Dragonfly’s Rain Drop”
  • 2016 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification V – Sculpture, Division B – Bronze and other metals: First Place
  • 2012 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division D – Traditional, native clay, figurative: First Place
  • 2012 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market: Judge’s Award – Dr. Arthur Pelberg. Awarded for artwork: “Wapiti”
  • 2010 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market. Phoenix, AZ. Class. II – Pottery, Div. D – Traditional, native clay, hand built, figurative, First Place
    – Div. G – Pottery miniatures not to exceed 3 inches at its greatest dimension, Second Place
  • 2009 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division D – Traditional Native clay, hand built, Figurative: Second Place
  • 2009 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Pottery miniatures (not to exceed 3″ at its greatest dimension): Second Place
  • 2008 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Non-traditional design or form with Native materials: First Place
  • 2007 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional, native clay, hand built, carved: First Place
  • 2006 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Non-traditional design or form with native materials: First Place
  • 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Non-traditional pottery, using traditional materials and techniques, any form or design, Category 1402 – Vases and bowls: First Place
  • 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Non-traditional pottery, using traditional materials and techniques, any form or design, Category 1403 – Ribbed jars, wedding jars, vases and bowls: Second Place
  • 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Non-traditional pottery, using traditional materials and techniques, any form or design, Category 1404 – Combined techniques, any shaped vessel: Third Place
  • 2004 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market: Judge’s Choice Award – Jim Calfee. Awarded for artwork: “Spring Storm”
  • 2001 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division C – Traditional pottery, carved or incised, Category 1005 – Miscellaneous: Second Place
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