Westika, Gaylon

Born in 1979, Gaylon Westika is the son of Priscilla Peynetsa and Daryl Westika of Zuni Pueblo. He grew up and went to school at the pueblo, eventually taking Gabriel Paloma‘s classes in Zuni ceramics. He’d been watching his mother, his aunt, Agnes Peynetsa, and his uncle, Anderson Peynetsa and Anderson’s wife, Avelia, making pottery since he was a child.

Gaylon made award-earning pottery through high school, then he almost disappeared from the market for the next 20 years. Anderson once indicated to us that Gaylon had been involved in tribal government and religion since finishing high school. He showed once at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market in 2010, then not again until 2016. In 2019 he earned a Judge’s Award at the Heard.

Some Awards Gaylon has earned

• 2019 Heard Museum Guild Indian Art Fair & Market: Judge’s Award – Jim Szabo. Awarded for artwork: “Protectors of the Water”
• 1997 Zuni Marketplace, Pottery Division, Young Potters, Third Place. Museum of Northern Arizona
• 1997 Zuni Marketplace, Pottery Division, Young Potters: Honorable Mention. Museum of Northern Arizona
• 1997 Santa Fe Indian Market, Classification VIII – Student (17 years and under), Division A – Ages 13-17, Category 3605 – Pottery, Figures, Animal: Second Place