Juanico, Marietta

Marietta Juanico was born to Isidore and Frances Concho of Acoma Pueblo in September 1964. Marietta says her grandmother, Helen Patricio, started letting her learn to make pots when she was about six years old. A couple years later she began working with clay alongside her mother. By the time she was in high school Marietta was allowed to sell her pots next to her grandmother’s, on the mesa top at Acoma Pueblo.

In the early days of her career, she mostly made small and medium sized pots. After marrying Melvin Juanico, her mother-in-law (Marie Juanico) encouraged her to build larger pots. The largest she has ever built was 24 inches high, the smallest about 1 inch.

Marietta uses traditional methods to make her pots: she digs and processes the clay, finds and grinds the pot shards (for tempering the clay), and digs and grinds the minerals used in her paints. She hand-coils her pots, using a coconut shell or wooden paddle to smooth them. She polishes with river stones, her largest being a gift handed down from her mother. Marietta also says she uses yucca brushes made the traditional way as they are best for the designs she likes to paint.

Most of Marietta’s designs are sourced from older Acoma pottery, her most contemporary designs having been passed down to her from her grandmother.

In 1997 Marietta earned the “Collectors Choice” award at the Phoenix Indian Center Show. The next year she earned the First Place ribbon for pottery at the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts & Crafts Show. In 2017 she and her husband, Melvin Juanico, earned an Honorable Mention ribbon at Santa Fe Indian Market for a piece of painted polychrome pottery in the style of Zuni, Acoma or Laguna, any form.

Today, Marietta and Melvin make and paint all their pots together. She generally signs their work “Acoma, M.P. Juanico”.