Adrianne Keene

“Acoma potter Adrianne Keene’s work challenges the boundaries between traditional and contemporary in the world of art. As a full time teacher with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Tuba City, Arizona, she also uses her work to bridge boundaries between peoples, teaching children the importance of being the best a person can be through art.” This is what was just written about Adrianne in a lead article in the Indian Market Albuquerque Journal , August 19, 1999. She states in that article, “ The pots are alive once I produce them.” She grew up watching her mother make pots, but never made one herself until after her firstborn son had passed away. He passed away on Mother’s Day, in 1976 – and when she “came out of her depression” – she found herself making pots. Her mother, Juanita Keene, helped her through that time, and encouraged her pottery making. Adrianne shows an incredible talent – she is one of the best miniaturists working today, She uses the traditional colors of black, white and red – and paints with painstaking detail. She has developed a style that is unique among Acoma potters- her seed jars feature a corrugated blossom around the top – made with a triangular shaped stick – pressed from the inside to the out. This corrugation must be completed in a single day to pevent cracking. We hope you enjoy her unique work.