Trujillo, Gregorita

Gregorita Trujillo (1902-1991) was not one of the original eight women potters who got together in the 1930s and resurrected the making of pottery at Ohkay Owingeh. She didn’t start making pottery until the early 1940s and she continued into the 1970s. When the first revival of pottery making at Ohkay Owingeh started to sputter, Gregorita stepped up and helped carry the momentum forward. She became very prominent in the second wave of the revival.

Gregorita worked with her husband, Juan Trujillo (a skilled weaver) and her son Manuel Trujillo (a skilled painter). Their home was a showplace for Ohkay Owingeh art of all kinds. The red-on-tan Potsuwi’i pottery form suited her well, too. She was noted for her images and bold designs, both painted and etched. She also had an excellent feel for form and texture.

Gregorita sold her pottery through the San Juan Mercantile and under the portal at the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. She also traveled the country, meeting with collectors and customers and demonstrating her art wherever she went. She was a prominent name during the Folk Life Fairs in Washington DC in the 1970s. Gregorita was also a representative of Ohkay Owingeh when she and 31 other artists met with First Lady Pat Nixon and then-President Richard Nixon at the White House.