Rachel Concho facts for kids
Rachel Concho, born in 1936, is a talented Native American artist. She is from the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. Rachel Concho is famous for making beautiful pottery. She is especially known for her unique "seed jars."
These seed jars are small, round pots. They have a tiny opening at the top. People used them to store seeds from one harvest. This way, they could plant the seeds for the next year's crops. Rachel Concho gets ideas for her designs from very old patterns. These patterns come from the Acoma Pueblo and the ancient Mimbres culture. The Mimbres people lived in what is now New Mexico and Arizona a long time ago.
Rachel Concho has won many awards for her pottery. In 2000, she won "Best in Show" at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Her amazing seed jars are now in museums. These include the famous Smithsonian Institution.
Rachel Concho: Master Potter
Rachel Concho's family is part of the Roadrunner Clan of the Acoma Pueblo. Her mother, Santana Cerno, taught her how to make pottery. Making pottery is a special art passed down through families. Her brother, Joseph Cerno, is also an artist. Her daughter-in-law, Carolyn Lewis-Concho, also creates art.
Most of Rachel Concho's designs follow traditional Acoma patterns. But she also creates new designs. For example, she once made a design based on spiders. This was different from the usual Acoma style.
Experts in art have praised Rachel Concho's work. In a book called Southwestern Pottery: Anasazi to Zuni, Allan Hayes and John Blom called her a "superstar." They said she was one of the best Acoma potters of her time. They even showed her seed jars as examples of top-quality art.
Where to See Her Art
Rachel Concho's beautiful pottery is shown in many museums. These museums keep her art as part of their permanent collections. This means her work will be on display for a very long time.
You can see her art at the National Museum of the American Indian. This museum is part of the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Her work is also at the Grice Collection of Native American Art. This collection is at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Another place to see her pottery is the Krannert Art Museum. This museum is at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
