Lisa Holt & Harlan Reano

Lisa Holt (born 1980, Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico) and Harlan Reano (born 1978, Kewa Pueblo, New Mexico) are a husband-and-wife team of Pueblo potters and artists from northern New Mexico. Since 1999, Holt & Reano have been making contemporary ceramics using traditional Cochiti pottery materials and techniques. At first, Holt made the forms and Reano painted (glazed) them. They now share the pottery making and 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 works are in various permanent museum collections, including the National Museum of the American Indian, the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Peabody Essex Museum, among others. Their piece, Untitled pot, was acquired by the Smithsonian American Art Museum as part of the Renwick Gallery’s 50th Anniversary Campaign.

Lisa Holt is from Cochiti Pueblo and is the granddaughter of potter Seferina Ortiz (1931–2007), who was her mentor. She 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 is half Kewa Pueblo (formerly known as Santo Domingo Pueblo) on his mother’s side. He also has learned potting from his mother-in-law, Juanita Inez Ortiz.