Juanita Fragua

Juanita Fragua (born 1935) is a highly revered matriarch of Jemez Pueblo (Walatowa) pottery. Belonging to the Corn Clan, she played a pivotal role in the 1970s revival of Jemez ceramics, helping to bring the pueblo’s distinct polychrome styles back to the forefront of the Native American art market. Growing up surrounded by the “old ways,” she dedicated her life to the labor-intensive ancestral techniques of gathering native clay, hand-coiling, natural pigment painting, and traditional outdoor firing.

Fragua is celebrated globally for her impeccably formed melon bowls, classic wedding vases, and bold polychrome jars. Her profound artistic legacy is not only preserved in her own elegant, museum-quality vessels but is also actively carried on through her children, including acclaimed contemporary potters Betty Jean and Glendora Fragua, and renowned stone sculptor Cliff Fragua. Today, her authentic, handcrafted works are treasured by serious collectors as foundational pieces of the modern Jemez pottery movement.