Romaine Begay

Romaine Begay is an award-winning Navajo potter, of the Zuni clan, who lives in Silver City, NM. Ro grew up in the Farmington, NM area and was always interested in art. He began drawing and painting at a young age and later discovered his love of pottery and ceramics at Western New Mexico University. He attended WNMU on a football scholarship, but soon learned that he didn’t care for the game. In order to pay for his schooling, his grandmother sold one of her hand-woven rugs, something that had been in his family for a long time. She had never sold her work before, but this one rug paid his entire BFA degree. Ro and his grandmother had a special relationship and he often puts images of her in his pottery. He sees his work and his experiences traveling as an extension of her.

Ro’s grandfather was a medicine man and created vessels to use for healing ceremonies. Ro is often asked to make custom pieces for use in native ceremonies, but he loves creating pieces that will be used for what he calls “family ceremonies”- people eating together. He says a blessing for each piece he makes as he believes that clay and earth are sacred.

His work is sold in galleries and museums throughout the Southwest. Locally, you can see his work at Leyba-Ingalls Gallery.