Cherokee National Treasure Victoria Vazquez brings traditional pottery exhibition to Saline Courthouse Museum
A new exhibition spotlighting one of the Cherokee Nation’s most celebrated potters opens this spring in Rose, Oklahoma, tracing a decades-long artistic journey rooted in ancestral clay and tradition passed down through generations.
“Victoria Vazquez: From the Earth” is on view at the Saline Courthouse Museum from May 19 through September 12, 2026, Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibition traces Vazquez’s work from her earliest days learning the craft alongside her mother, Cherokee National Treasure Anna Mitchell, to her most recent pieces honoring southeastern woodland pottery traditions.
Vazquez learned traditional pottery making in 1990 from her mother, Anna Sixkiller Mitchell, a full-blood Cherokee who is credited with reviving the art form in Oklahoma. Like her mother before her, Vazquez builds each piece by hand using the coil method — no potter’s wheel — and works exclusively with tools her ancestors would have recognized: smooth river stones, river cane sticks, bone utensils, gourd necks, and handmade wooden paddles.
“I feel as if this is what I was meant to be doing,” Vazquez said. “I love digging the clay, creating something new and carrying on the tradition my mother started.”
A native Oklahoman who lives on a cattle ranch near Welch, Vazquez has won awards across the United States and most recently received the Cherokee National Treasures Master Craftsman award for her skill, knowledge, and commitment to cultural preservation through her pottery. She has also served more than a decade in public service with the Council of the Cherokee Nation.
The Saline Courthouse Museum is located at 55870 S. 490 Rd. in Rose, OK. For more information, contact Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism at Info@VisitCherokeeNation.com or 877.779.6977.
