Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano


Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano are a husband-and-wife team of Pueblo potters and artists from northern New Mexico. They have been making pottery together in 1999, they use use traditional Cochiti pottery techniques and create modern work.

About

Holt and Reano have been making pottery together since 1999. At first, Holt made the pots and Reano painted them. They now share the pottery making; Reano still does all the painting. They first made figurines inspired by the old Cochiti tradition of human and animal forms. They use Cochiti clay and natural paints for their work, and fire their pottery outdoors with cedar wood.
More recently, they make pots, jars, and figurines with a more contemporary feel, influenced by the work of Holt's uncle, the avant-garde potter and designer, Virgil Ortiz.
Holt and Reano's work was featured in the 25th Smithsonian Institution Craft Show in 2007. Smithsonian magazine in 20107 ran a photo of their "Pueblo Fire Warrior" figurine. "He's a superhero we came up with," they said.
Holt and Reano's works are in various permanent museum collections, including the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Peabody Essex Museum, and others.

Lisa Holt

Lisa Holt is from Cochiti Pueblo and is the granddaughter of potter Seferina Ortiz, who was her mentor. She also learned from her mother, Juanita Inez Ortiz, and her uncle, Virgil Ortiz. She is of the Herrera family, of Pueblo potters in New Mexico, whose work is often found in art collections and in art museums.

Harlan Reano

Harlan Reano is half Kewa Pueblo on his mother’s side. He also has learned potting from his mother-in-law, Juanita Inez Ortiz.

Awards