Christine McHorse facts for kids

Christine McHorse (born December 21, 1948 – died February 17, 2021) was a famous Navajo artist. She was known for her amazing ceramic art and sculptures. Christine lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and her art was loved by many.

Early Life and Learning

Christine Nofchissey was born on December 21, 1948, in Morenci, Arizona. She was one of nine children. Even though she lived away from the Navajo reservation, she spent her summers in Fluted Rock, Arizona. There, she helped herd sheep and learned many traditional Navajo stories from her grandmother, Zonith Bahe.

When Christine was 14, she discovered famous artists like Picasso and Matisse at her boarding school. She said these artists "opened a whole new world" for her and her sisters.

From 1963 to 1968, Christine studied at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This school was a high school for young artists. She originally wanted to learn glassblowing, but she switched to ceramics when that program was stopped. At IAIA, she learned from talented teachers like Ralph Pardington (ceramics), Charles Loloma (jewelry), and Allan Houser (sculpture).

While at IAIA, she met Joel P. McHorse, who would later become her husband. His grandmother, Lena Archuleta, was from Taos Pueblo. She taught Christine how to use a special, shimmering clay called micaceous clay, which was common in the Taos area. Christine loved this clay and used it in her artwork for the rest of her life.

Her Family Life

In 1969, Christine married Joel P. McHorse. He was a Taos Pueblo Indian and also an art student she met at the IAIA. They had two sons, Joel Christopher and Jonathan Thomas. They first lived in Taos and later moved to Santa Fe.

Christine McHorse passed away in Santa Fe on February 17, 2021, at the age of 72. She died due to problems from COVID-19.

Her Amazing Artwork

Christine McHorse's art was inspired by many different cultures, including Navajo, Pueblo, and Anglo (European-American) traditions. She made her pottery using a traditional method called coil-building. This means she built her pots by stacking coils of clay on top of each other.

Her artwork often used traditional Navajo designs and stories. While she was influenced by Pueblo art, her finished pieces looked very modern and unique.

Many of her pieces had a special black surface. She created this by taking away oxygen from the clay during the firing process. This unique look made her art very popular in modern art shows. She liked to fire her pottery outdoors in a traditional way, using cedarwood and cottonwood bark as fuel. For larger pieces, some as tall as two feet, she would pre-fire them in an electric kiln to prevent them from breaking.

Navajo potters often put boiled pinon-pine pitch on their pots to make them waterproof. Christine used this pitch differently. She used it to make the carved designs on her pots stand out more. When you gently tap her large pottery, it sounds like glass!

Awards and Recognition

Christine McHorse showed her art at the Santa Fe Indian Market for 23 years. She won an amazing 38 awards for both her pottery and her sculptures!

Her artwork is kept in important museums, so people can see it for a long time. Some of these museums include the Heard Museum, the Denver Art Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Navajo Nation Museum. Her work is also featured in a special book called Dark Light: The Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse.

Selected Awards

• 1985: First prize at the Denver Annual Pottery Show.
• 1990: "Best of Show" at the Museum of Northern Arizona's Navajo Craftsmen Exhibition.
• 1994: "Best in Division" at the Santa Fe Indian Market (SFIM).
• 1994, 1987, and 1989: First place at the Gallup Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial in Gallup, New Mexico.
• 2001: "Best of Classification Award" in sculpture at SFIM.
• 2006: SFIM Challenge Award.
• 2012: "Best Sculpture" at SFIM. This was special because it was the first time a potter, not a sculptor, won this award!

Solo Exhibitions

Christine McHorse had several shows where only her art was displayed:

• 1993: Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• 2013–2017: Dark Light: The Ceramics of Christine Nofchissey McHorse. This was a special traveling show that went to many places, including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (2013), Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2014), Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art (2014), Navajo Nation Museum, Rockwell Museum of Western Art, IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (2015), Arizona State Museum (2016), and the National Museum of the American Indian (2017).

Group Exhibitions

Her art was also part of many shows with other artists:

• 1972: Taos Pueblo Arts and Crafts Shop, New Mexico (until 1977).
• 1983: Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
• 1985: Eileen Kremen Gallery, Fullerton, California.
• 1985: Eight Northern Artist and Craft Show, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico.
• 1987: Kornbluth Gallery, Fair Lawn, New York.
• 1988: anii ánáádaalyaa'íí: Continuity and Innovation in Recent Navajo Art, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• 1989: Navajo Pottery, Southwest Museum, Los Angeles, California.
• 1989: Scripps 45th Ceramics Annual, Lang Art Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, California.
• 1989: From this Earth: Pottery of the Southwest, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.
• 1990: The Cutting Edge, a traveling show from the Museum of American Folk Art, New York, that visited many cities.
• 1994: Honoring the Legacy, Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff.
• 1994: Diversity of Expression: New Mexico Folk Art, New Mexico State Capitol/Governor's Gallery, Santa Fe.
• 1994: Contemporary Art of the Navajo Nation, a traveling show from the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Museum of Art, that visited several universities and museums.
• 1996: Contemporary Women Artists of the West, 1946–1996, Karan Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• 2019: Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Public Collections

You can find Christine McHorse's art in these public collections:

• Denver Museum of Natural History, Colorado.
• Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
• Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe.
• Navajo Nation Museum, Window Rock, Arizona.
• School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe.