Fragua, Juanita

“The big ones I push out from inside and groove them on the outside. I have a new one I call the ‘oval melon,’ grooved only on one side.”

Juanita Fragua was born into Jemez Pueblo in March 1935. Her mother was Rita Casiquito Magdalena, a woman from Zia Pueblo. Rita was an experienced Zia potter and, after making adjustments for Jemez clay, taught others at Jemez Pueblo how to make pottery. Later in life Juanita recognized Benina Shije, a sister Corn clan member from Zia, as also being important in the revival of pottery making at Jemez. The pottery tradition at Jemez Pueblo had been virtually extinct for 200 years.

Juanita studied some of the ancient Jemez pottery in the museums of Santa Fe and Albuquerque. She felt their lines were very simple, so she developed more complex designs of her own. She said they were inspired by elements of her Corn clan heritage but she also said, “It’s all up here in my head.”

Juanita makes traditional polished tanware and redware, jars, bowls, cornmeal bowls, vases and wedding vases. Some she decorates with sgraffito work, some she lightly carves, most she paints with traditional designs. Juanita also does embroidery.

Juanita didn’t limit herself to traditional Jemez practices either. She studied with Kiowa painter Al Momaday for a while, learning to draw and how to mix paints. Embroiderer Lorencita Bird shared designs and design techniques with her.

Juanita was part of the 1950s wave of pottery revivals passing through the pueblos. She felt free to try everything from sgraffito to carving to micaceous clay. The primary determinant of Jemez style is basically the colors of the base clay, the slips and the paints.

Juanita was a consummate artist and passed her knowledge and perspectives on to her children and many others. Her son, Clifford Fragua, is an internationally known sculptor. Her daughters, Glendora (Daubs) Fragua and Betty Jean Fragua, became award-earning potters.

In 2020, Juanita and Glendora collaborated on a piece they submitted to the Heard Museum Guild Indian Arts Fair & Market in Phoenix. It earned the First Place ribbon for Classification II – Pottery, Division E – Any design or form with native materials, kiln-fired pottery. Awarded for the collaborative artwork: “Generations.” Juanita’s ribbons have dates on them stretching back to the 1980 Santa Fe Indian Market.

Sadly, Juanita passed on just before Christmas, 2023.