Geronima Cruz Montoya
Also recorded as Potsunu · Gerónima Cruz · Po-Su-Nu · Jerry Cruz Montoya
Geronima Cruz Montoya
- Born
- 1915 · Ohkay Owingeh.
- Died
- 2015 · Albuquerque.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- painter · teacher
- Fields
- painting
- Education
- Santa Fe Indian School · Claremont College
In this article
Key facts
• Name — Gerónima Cruz Montoya
• Birth Name — Gerónima Cruz
• Born — 1915 9 22
• Birthplace — Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico
• Died — 2015 1 2
• Place of death — Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Citizenship — Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and American
• Field — Painting
• Training — The Studio School
• Style — Studio Flatstyle painting
• Awards — Santa Fe Living Treasure (2004),
Gerónima Cruz Montoya (Potsunu) (September 22, 1915 – January 2, 2015) was an Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo artist and educator from New Mexico. She taught Native American artists at the Studio at the Santa Fe Indian School.
Early life and education
Her parents were Pablo Cruz and Crucita Trujillo, both of Ohkay Owingeh, New Mexico, where she was born. Her Pueblo name is "Potsunu", meaning "shell", and it is with this name that she signs her work. Her mother was a well-respected potter, and it was from her that Montoya learned the basics. She then studied at the Santa Fe Indian School with Dorothy Dunn, from which she graduated as the valedictorian in her class in 1935, and at Claremont College.
Career
Montoya taught painting at the Santa Fe Indian School from 1937 until 1961. While Dorothy Dunn was known for developing the Studio program at the Indian School, 1932–37, Montoya was the first Native American to teach painting there for over 24 years. One of the students at the School during her time there was Tonita Peña's son Joe Herrera.
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Ohkay Owingeh.
Birth place
Albuquerque.
Death place
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Gerónima Cruz Montoya, revision 1359517778 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record.
Death and legacy
For her work as both teacher and painter, Montoya was awarded the 1994 Art and Cultural Achievement Award by the National Museum of the American Indian. In 1963 Montoya started an art education program at Ohkay Owingeh and in 1968 she founded the Oke'Oweege Artistic Cooperative there. Montoya died on January 2, 2015, at the age of 99.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Geronima Cruz Montoya. Santa Fe Living Treasures: Elder Stories.
- 2.Heller, Jules and Nancy G, Heller, ed., "North American Women Artists of the Twentieth Century: A Biographical Dictionary" Garland Reference Library of the Humanities (Vol. 1219), Garland Publishing Company, New York & London, 1995
- 3.Artist Gerónima Cruz Montoya (P´otsúnú) Walks On at 99. Native News Online.
- 4.Gilbert, Dorothy B., ed., Who's Who in American Art, The American Federation of Arts, R.R. Bowker Company, NY, 1963
- 5.Brody, J.J. Indian Painters and White Patrons. University of New Mexico Press. 128. 1971.
- 6.Berlo, Janet C. Native North American Art. Oxford University Press. 219–223. 1998.
- 7.Schaaf, Gregory. St. James Guide to Native North American Artists. St. James Press. 389. 1998. 1558622217.
- 8.Broder, Patricia. Earth Songs, Moon Dreams : Paintings by American Indian Women. St. Martin's Press. 42. 1999. 0312205341.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 1
- Jeanne Shutes and Jill Mellick, The Worlds of P'otsunu: Geronima Cruz Montoya of San Juan Pueblo, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1996. .
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 27 August 2026.
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