Nancy Youngblood

Santa Clara Pueblo potter Nancy Youngblood was born at Fort Lewis, Washington in 1955 to Mela and Walton Youngblood. She grew up traveling to army bases in the United States and Europe due to her father’s job in the army. When her father was sent to Vietnam in 1968, the rest of the family moved to Santa Clara Pueblo. There she watched her mother and grandmother, Margaret Tafoya, making pottery and learned the process. She submitted her first piece for competition in 1972 at the Gallup Intertribal Ceremonial, where it won second prize. Youngblood briefly attended San Francisco Art Institute before returning home to focus on pottery while living with her aunt, Shirley Tafoya, a potter known for her melon bowls and miniatures. She also studied studio art at the University of New Mexico in 1975.