Santa Fe Has an Incredible History of Pottery — Here’s How to Explore the City’s Artistic Heritage
From left: At Tumbleroot Pottery Pub, drinks are served in handmade ceramic vessels; works for sale at Tumbleroot Pottery Pub.
Credit: Mary Robnett
Sitting behind a potter’s wheel in downtown Santa Fe, I surrendered to the wet clay, digging my fingers in and watching as a bowl began to take shape. “Breathe,” said my instructor, Heidi Loewen, as I eased off the pedal. “When we’re learning a new sport, and I consider this a sport, we get excited and stop breathing.” She was right: I needed to catch my breath.
It’s safe to say I have a pottery problem. I used to buy cheeky mugs at Target, until I picked up a handmade one at an arts festival in Atlanta. Now I drink my coffee out of vessels crafted by cult-favorite makers like East Fork, from Asheville, North Carolina. I appreciate how no two pieces are alike and how ceramics, one of our oldest art forms, spans cultures and connects us across time. After all, clay is found nearly everywhere on earth and so, therefore, is pottery.