Kalley Keams Lucero

Kalley Keams Lucero, a Navajo weaver from Scottsdale, Arizona, has been chosen as the Ronald and Susan Dubin Native American Artist Fellow. A life-long weaver, she says, “I am determined to keep learning all aspects of Navajo weaving through contact with other Navajo weavers, scholars, collectors, museum collections, and any other resource I can find.”

Keams Lucero’s work and talent have been widely recognized. In addition to working in several foreign capitals, she participated in an indigenous weavers exchange that took her to New Zealand and Japan. Her work has been exhibited in more than eighteen US museums and institutions.

While she was on campus, Keams Lucero experimented with new dye colors for her loom creation, using plants from SAR’s campus to dye the wool that she incorporates into her rug. She also used IARC’s resources to gather information on the origin of Spanish Saltillo blankets and their influence in Navajo weaving. In September, she convened the 2001 Artist Gathering Gifts of Spiderwoman: Myths and Reality of Spirituality in Navajo Weaving, at which ten Navajo weavers came together to discuss the nature of their art.