Angela Baca

Santa Clara Pueblo

The daughter of Severa and Cleto Tafoya, Angela Baca (1927-2014) was a potter from Santa Clara Pueblo. She grew up surrounded by pottery artists and began playing with clay early in life. She experimented with style for several years and decided around 1955 to make melon jars her speciality. That decision made her famous for her classic carved red and black melon jars. Angela earned ribbons for them at the Santa Fe Indian Market in 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1992.

Some of Angela's melon jars were featured in an exhibition at The Graphic Image in Milburn, NJ, in 1984. Also in that exhibition were pieces by Maria Martinez, Popovi Da, Blue Corn, Stella Chavarria and others. Some of Angela's melon jars are on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.