Talk: Tradition and Innovation: A New Spin on an Ancient Practice

School for Advanced Research’s 2025 Native Arts Speaker Series
Cultural Currents: The Role of Mentorship in Native Arts

Explore how mentorship shapes both traditional and contemporary Native arts.

This second event of four features Nora Naranjo Morse and Margarita Paz-Pedro

Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha’P’o Tewa, Santa Clara Pueblo] was born and raised in Northern New Mexico. Nora is a contemporary artist who energizes Pueblo ancestral sensibility into her art using earth based materials to create large Public Art installations. One of Nora’s public art piece is at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. Naranjo Morse. Nora also works in a number of media. Naranjo Morse lives on Kha’P’o tribal land in an adobe house she helped to build.

Margarita Paz-Pedro (Mexican-American, Laguna Pueblo & Santa Clara Pueblo) was born in Albuquerque, NM, raised in Las Cruces, NM and with family in Laguna Pueblo, Margarita has ties across NM. Her background is core to her artmaking. She is a ceramic artist, teacher, organizer, and muralist. Since 2009, she has worked as a lead artist with the ALMA Summer Institute of ALMA, creating large-scale public art mosaic murals across New Mexico. She is a partner to a fellow artist and together they have a rowdy 11 year old.

To register please go to our website. If you aren’t able to attend in person, please join us for the livestream on SAR’s YouTube channel.