Pueblo Corn Dance
Fine Arts Collection U.S. General Services Administration
U.S. General Services Administration
Initially, Zia Pueblo artist Velino Herrera planned a large mural painted behind the employee soda fountain titled The Pueblo Corn Dance. As described by the artist, “the Pueblo corn dance or feast and Thanksgiving...takes place on August 15th at [Zia] Pueblo.” The ceremony includes music and dancing, and his design included a vast array of figures and details. Fearing such details might be lost behind the counter, the artist instead selected five key figures to adorn the alcove.
On opposing walls in this recess are two corn dancers, who wear white kilts with a striking red and black design. Each holds a rattling gourd in their right hand and an evergreen branch in their left hand, while bells tied to their legs jingle with each step.
Herrera also included three figures around a central column. At center, a drummer, clothed in red, beats a rhythm on a large blue and yellow drum. On either side, two colorfully painted Koshare dancers raise their feet and hands, dancing to the drummer’s song. The Koshare dancers, also known as Pueblo clowns or sacred clowns, are viewed as tricksters or jesters in the Kachina religion. In his mural, Herrera clothes them in elaborate costumes from head to toe, with full-body paint, ribbons, and bells tied to their waists.Velino Shije Herrera, also known as Ma Pe Wi, was commissioned in 1939 to create a series of murals at the new Department of the Interior building in Washington, D.C. He was one of four Native American artists who painted 2,200 feet of murals for the eighth-floor penthouse, which served as the employee lounge. While Herrera painted the north corridor, Potawatomi artist Woody Crumbo covered the south corridor. In the main room, the walls were divided between Chiricahua Apache artist Allan Houser and Navajo painter Gerald Nailor. The Secretary of the Interior at the time, Harold Ickes, insisted on commissioning artworks by Native American artists. Because of this mandate, the Section of Fine Arts invited Crumbo, Herrera, Houser, and Nailor to participate in the penthouse project and commissioned two Kiowa artists, James Auchiah and Stephen Mopope, to paint murals for the cafeteria.
