Robert Tenorio
born 1950 Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico
Person TypeIndividual
1899 Messina, Italy - 1964 Tucson, Arizona
1887 San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico - 1980 San Ildefonso, New Mexico
BiographyRobert Tenorio is a potter from Santo Domingo Pueblo. Born in 1950, Tenorio is the son of Andrew and Juanita Tenorio. He grew up watching his grandmother, Andrea Ortiz, make pottery. He also learned pottery making from his great-aunt, Lupe Tenorio. He then went to the Institute of American Indian Arts where he originally studied jewelry making before switching to ceramics under the tutelage of Ohille Loloma, the wife of jeweler Charles Loloma. Tenorio has been potting full time since 1970 and continued to experiment with clays, slips, designs and forms.