South by Midwest: Honors New Mexico Immersion

On a hot, sunny day in June, 12 students from the honors college ate enchiladas and fired ceramic pots in Kewa Pueblo, an Indigenous community about 30 miles north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Later, while the kiln fired, birds and swirls of wind and water appeared on the clay, a traditional style of ceramic ornament practiced by the students’ guide, Kewa potter Thomas Tenorio. After a week of encountering Native American pottery in southwestern museums, the students found themselves mesmerized by Tenorio’s hand-mixed, hand-coiled, hand-shaped ceramic techniques — a living tradition of hand-fired artistry.

Tenorio’s memorable session represented just one day of the honors college’s New Mexico Immersion, a two-week trip for a dozen students led by professor and archivist Greg Kocken and honors director Dr. Heather Fielding. Sharing in a series of unique intercultural experiences, students learned about contemporary Native American art while surrounded by the people, places and cultural influences that inspired the artists they studied. 

“We got to fully experience not only New Mexican culture but how both Indigenous people and white settlers created the flourishing art scene found in Santa Fe and Taos,” says Brady Johnson, a second-year geography major.

For the first half of the trip, the group of UW-Eau Claire students — who represented majors as diverse as elementary education, political science and computer science — stayed at the Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA). There they learned from current IAIA faculty and explored the institution’s storied history of former students turned accomplished native artists like Pop Chalee and Alan Houser. 

All told, they spent 13 days in Santa Fe and Taos, visiting art galleries and museums, attending artist talks and exhibitions, and learning firsthand how New Mexico’s scenic vistas and Indigenous communities formed the multicultural art history of the southwest.

Still, the traditional pottery instruction of Tenorio was perhaps the most memorable lesson. Tenorio, whose work is featured in the LaBelle-Miller Southwest Pottery Collection at UW-Eau Claire, spoke at length with students about his artistic journey with ceramics, from early work with contemporary throwing methods to years of mastering traditional practices.

Al Miller and Richard LaBelle, art teachers from Wisconsin now living in New Mexico, first introduced students to Tenorio’s craft. When Miller and LaBelle welcomed the Eau Claire group into their home one night for dinner, the students soon discovered another gallery — thousands of art pieces littered every room and surface, and for each piece, Miller revealed a backstory as rich as its artistry. LaBelle, himself a practiced painter, later guided the students on a tour of his own art studio, a place even fuller of stories and memories, from Wisconsin and New Mexico and around the globe.

Miller and LaBelle have gifted a considerable portion of their pottery collection to UW-Eau Claire, 400 pieces or more, and they are regularly displayed on campus and used in coursework and research. Olivia Heesch, a third-year business administration major, remembers LaBelle and Miller’s generosity as the most impactful part of the trip. 

“I loved how much they try to support the people around them,” Heesch says. “They are not even originally from New Mexico, yet they really try to give back in any way they can.”

Tenorio’s hospitality was no less memorable. After his pottery session, Tenorio invited the group to return to Kewa Pueblo the next day, not only to see the finished pot, but also to attend his niece’s wedding — with the bride’s approval, of course. During the wedding reception, Eau Claire students mingled with Tenorio’s friends and family (and even met his mother). Olivia McNally, a third-year English education major, remembers fondly the kindness of both their hosts and fellow guests. 

“I realized how welcome we really were. Everyone we met was open to telling their story, and we were so glad to get the opportunity to hear them. It was a beautiful experience and I will never forget it.” McNally says.

New Mexico immersion leaders Kocken and Fielding asked students to keep daily journals with questions, thoughts and ideas for group discussion, which some students still return to many months later. Among class-like conversations — a staple in all honors courses at UW-Eau Claire — students placed what they had seen, heard, done and recorded in broader historical contexts. 

“When we said goodbye to Thomas, he asked us not to forget him,” says Raya Sebek, a second-year integrated studies major. "That the Indigenous people are still here. That really stuck with me. This immersion taught me how important it is to remember the past. There is so much about history and art that is being forgotten." 

Before they left, Tenorio arranged for the group to attend a corn dance at Tesuque Pueblo, just north of Santa Fe. A sacred Indigenous ceremony celebrating the harvest, the dance was moving and intense. “Being able to visit many different Pueblos and learn about their unique customs and traditions was fascinating,” Johnson says. “Probably my favorite experience.”

To ensure similar experiences stay accessible and affordable, UW-Eau Claire covers up to 90% of one domestic intercultural immersion for all Blugolds. These high-impact practices allow every student to encounter new ideas, cultures and places they may never have experienced otherwise. For the honors students on the New Mexico Immersion, far-ranging majors shared in moments of interdisciplinarity, collaboration, reflection and perspective-taking, common guideposts of higher education at UW-Eau Claire. 

“This immersion is worth taking because of that opportunity,” Sebek says. “To make new friends, understand new perspectives and appreciate new thoughts and places.”

Written by Hannah Schindler, a third-year senior at UW-Eau Claire majoring in political science and minoring in psychology. She's from Saint Cloud, Minnesota.