Tapia, Tom

“I was told at one time that I was given this talent not to gain fame, but as a means of making a living.”

Tom Tapia was born into Ohkay Owingeh in May 1946. He was the son of Jose B. Tapia and Leonidas Cata Tapia. He was born and raised in Los Alamos, NM, but his parents always kept him active in religious and cultural activities at San Juan. His mother also made Potsuwi’i style pottery and Tom learned how to make that from watching and working with her.

When Tom married Sue Tapia of Laguna Pueblo, she moved to his home at Ohkay Owingeh and learned to make Potsuwi’i style pottery, too. However, she was from Laguna and there were problems about her using Ohkay Owingeh styles and designs so Tom innovated his own offshoots and added sgraffito to his design toolkit.

Tom would usually design the pots that Sue would make. Then Tom would decorate some and Sue would decorate others. Often they’d collaborate, and Sue’s deep carving mixed with Tom’s sgraffito design work earned them multiple awards. Then Tom died in 2015 and shortly after, Sue moved back to Laguna Pueblo.