Cheromiah, Lee Ann

“Sometimes the Clay will take over and do what She wants. If She doesn’t like the design, it won’t work.”

Born into the Laguna Pueblo Roadrunner Clan in 1954, Lee Ann Cheromiah is the daughter of Evelyn Cheromiah. Evelyn is credited with helping to revive the Laguna pottery tradition that had almost completely stopped in the 1950s. Lee Ann learned her craft from Evelyn when Evelyn taught her first four-month class on making pottery at the Laguna Arts & Crafts Co-op.

Rick Dillingham said “Evelyn and Lee Ann Cheromiah ‘talk’ to the spirits of deceased potters while making new pottery, to guide them in their work.” Lee Ann called it “talking to the Spirit of the Clay.”

Lee Ann earned several ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market and at the New Mexico State Fair. She generally makes traditional polychrome jars, bowls and animal figures, decorated with traditional Laguna geometric designs.

Lee Ann passed her knowledge and skills on to her daughter, Brooke. Lee Ann usually signs her pieces: L.A. Cheromiah, Old Laguna N.M.