Virgil and Shirley Benn Nampeyo, Pueblo Artists

Hopi/Tewa artist Shirley Benn Nampeyo, was an active artist from 1950 to 1980. She is known for her pottery and jewelry to include necklaces and pins.

Shirley Benn Nampeyo (1936-) is Hopi-Tewa but worked at Zuni Pueblo as she wed into the Zuni tribe when she married Virgil Benn.

Shirley Benn Nampeyo is the Great-granddaughter of Nampeyo; granddaughter of Annie Healing; niece of Rachel Namingha Nampeyo; daughter of Daisy Hooee; sister of Louella Naha Inote and Raymond Naha; wife of Virgil Benn. Shirley Benn Nampeyo is Hopi-Tewa but worked at Zuni Pueblo.

"I learned most of my pottery from my grandmother, and when I got to doing more my mother helped with shaping. She taught me the ways to make them. The pottery maidens [Zuni Olla Maidens, a performance group that carries large water jars on their heads] would come in summertime, and she [Daisy] would help them make pottery. I learned to mix paint from my mom and learned about the designs, where they come from. I am also a silversmith, I do channel work, necklaces, bolos, and pins." -Shirley Benn (Dillingham 1994:42)

References:

- Fourteen Families In Pueblo Pottery by Rick Dillingham.

- Hopi-Tewa Pottery: 500 Artist Biographies by Gregory Schaaf.

Relative Links: Hopi Pueblo, Nampeyo, Annie Healing, Rachel Namingha Nampeyo, Daisy Hooee, Raymond Naha, Zuni Pueblo, Southwest Indian Jewelry