Paths of Beauty
Bi’po-wa-ve… You are invited to a new exhibit opening at the Poeh Cultural Center and Museum this month, “Paths of Beauty,” features Pueblo embroidery—giving an exceptional interpretive glimpse of Pueblo cultural traditions. The exhibit honors the work of Shawn Tafoya (Santa Clara and Pojoaque Pueblos) and Isabel Gonzales (Jemez Pueblo).
Attending an exhibit honors those who are accomplished and those who are learning, to keep the pueblo traditions alive. Come celebrate the continuity of this nature-based art, eat Pueblo food, and celebrate with the Pueblo communities. Explore the meaningful contexts of embroidery and pottery and their ties to landscape and Pueblo lifeways through the work of two renowned Pueblo artists.
Isabel Gonzales lives in San Ildefonso Pueblo (through marriage) and receives orders from Pueblo members throughout the villages. Her designs of Jémez Pueblo emphasize red, green and black associated with the seasons, cardinal directions and cosmological meanings.
Shawn Tafoya has received several awards for his embroidery and is also a renowned potter. In Pueblo custom, men often weave and embroider. Shawn creates ritual dance attire for his family and community members, to include mantas, dance kilts, breechcloths and hand-woven sashes—worm by men and women for ceremonial purposes or rituals.