Paloma, Gabriel

Gabriel Paloma was born to Herman and Janice Paloma of Zuni Pueblo in September 1966. When he attended Zuni High School, he took the ceramics class offered by Jennie Laate and was smitten.

He continued taking ceramics classes when he attended the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and at the UNM satellite campus in Gallup. Then he worked with Eileen Yatsattie in the Zuni Creative Arts Program. When Noreen Simplicio stepped back from teaching the pottery classes at Zuni High School after Jennie Laate died, Gabriel took over.

Gabriel has continued making pottery and entering it in juried competitions. He’s earned prize ribbons at the Gallup InterTribal Ceremonials and at the Museum of Northern Arizona Zuni Show, including a prestigious Curator’s Award.

Gabriel’s work can be seen at the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences and others. He primarily makes polychrome jars, cornmeal bowls and cups, decorating them tadpoles, water serpents, dragonflies, spirals, terraced clouds and rain symbols. He also makes watercolors, acrylic paintings and mixed media, and carves kachinas.

Some Awards Gabriel has earned

• 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary pottery, any form or design, using commercial clays/glazes, all firing techniques: Best of Division
• 2019 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Contemporary pottery, any form or design, using commercial clays/glazes, all firing techniques, Category 907 – Painted, any form: First Place
• 2015 Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division A – Traditional – native clay, hand built, painted: Honorable Mention
• 2004 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification II – Pottery, Division G – Non-traditional pottery, using traditional materials and techniques, any form or design, Category 1401 – Jars, wedding jars: Second Place