Kathleen Wall

Jemez

Creating her first storyteller when she was 8, Kathleen is descended from a long line of ceramic artists. From her grandmother, Cari Loretto of Jemez Pueblo, who taught six daughters, to her mother Fannie, who taught her in turn, Kathleen has supported herself as a working artist from the age of 17. After high school she went on to receive formal training at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe and currently has a studio at Jemez Pueblo. Using her creative talents, Kathleen blends modern and traditional methods to create unique whimsical figures. She is known for creating Koshare clowns and Hopi corn maidens comically performing daily activities such as dancing, making music, and eating watermelon.
Kathleen was honored to be the 2000 Southwest Association for Indian Arts Fellowship recipient. In 2006 she received a commission from the Smithsonian Institute to create a storyteller for First Lady Laura Bush to be presented at the Congressional Club ‘First Lady’s Luncheon”. She then received a solo exhibition at the Pablita Museum of Indian Women in the Arts in Santa Fe titled, Harvesting Traditions. When we did a one woman Open House for her many years ago, so many people commented that Kathleen’s “HUGE SMILE” seems to be portrayed in her figures and masks.