Maria Poveka Martinez is a legendary potter from New Mexico. Maria, Black Pottery of San Ildefonso, a short film showing at the Heard Museum, offers unique perspective on the late potter’s life working with clay, from her beginnings with simple black vases commissioned as museum replicas to artistic masterpieces painted with serpents and other figures. Born at the end of the 19th century into a pueblo already respected for its high level of clay mastery, Martinez elevated the practice. Already an accomplished potter, her initial attempts at the now-famous mixing of matte and glossy black surfaces began in the 1920s, end her skill and refinement of the technique -- at times with her family’s participation -- quickly becomes stunningly obvious.
Go black in time at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, March 6, at 2301 North Central Avenue. Museum admission is $18 for adults, $13.50 for seniors, $7.50 for children children 6 to 12, and kids younger than 6 get in free. Call 602-252-8840 or visit www.heard.org.
Thu., March 6, 11:30 a.m., 2014
