DECEMBER 9, 1962

PUEBLO POTTER ROXANNE SWENTZELL BORN

Swentzell, born at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico (NM), is from a long line of Santa Clara Pueblo (SCP) potters. As a child, she made small sculptures to communicate due to a speech impediment. Roxanne attended the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in 1978 and the Portland Museum (Mus.) Art School in 1980. Swentzell won 8 awards at the 1986 Santa Fe Indian Market and, in 1987, co-founded the SCP-based nonprofit Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute, which offers lessons on living a healthy life. She also runs the Tower Gallery in north Santa Fe, NM. Her noted works include: Emergence of the Clowns (1988); In Crisis (1999); Nestled Lives (2000); Pinup (2002); and For Life in All Directions (2004)–commissioned by the National Mus. of the American Indian (NMAI). Collections/exhibitions include: The White House; NMAI; Cartier, Paris; Santa Fe Convention Center; Mus. of Wellington, New Zealand; Autry Mus. of the American West; and Brooklyn, Heard, Denver Art, and Joslyn Art Mus.

Sources:
“Roxanne Swentzell Biography,” Roxane Swentzell Tower Gallery.  Retrieved 2/5/2024, https://www.roxanneswentzell.net/roxanne_swentzell_bio.htm
Wikipedia
Photo:  dbking, 6/30/2006. "For Life in all Directions," bronze sculpture by Roxanne Swentzell. Permissive Use.