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Artist Spotlight: BJ Fragua
By Diana Berger
BJ Fragua of the Jemez Pueblo has been creating beautiful
and traditional Jemez pottery since 1981. Born on October 10, 1962 in St. Louis, Missouri to Manual and Juanita Fragua, BJ grew up in San Francisco, California and moved to the Jemez Pueblo in
New Mexico in 1973. She comes from a long line of pueblo potters: her great grandmother Benina Madelena taught her grandmother, Rita Casiquito, who in turn taught her mother, Juanita Fragua. Juanita,
a well known potter in her own right, taught BJ the craft, and BJ continues the tradition today.
BJ lists her favorite parts of her craft as creating, polishing and painting, and is best known for her tight fitting lids and exquisitely polished pieces. She has developed her own unique and
elegant design style over the years, hand painting her pieces precisely and accentuating her painted designs within the incised carved sections of her pieces that flow around the middle of the
pottery. BJ has received many 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and honorable mention awards at various shows, including the Santa Fe Indian Market, Pueblo Grande Museum and the Heard Museum.
A “New” Familiar Face:
Ashley Medici
By Diana Berger
In keeping with the trend our last newsletter began, I would like to introduce you to yet another family member of mine, Ashley Medici.
The sister of our previous employee spotlight, Krista Medici, daughter of jewelry buyer Vince Medici and niece of owner Guy Berger (making her another cousin of mine), Ashley has rejoined the Palms
family after taking a year away to pursue other interests. I’m sure I speak for everyone here when I say that we are very happy to have Ashley’s familiar face and contagious work ethic
and attitude back with us.
Born June 19, 1989 in Albuquerque, Ashley began working at Palms part time when she was just 13 years old. Ashley quickly caught on to much of the information our store has to offer and has become
one of our most hard-working employees. Although she predominantly works in the jewelry department of the store, Ashley can be found throughout Palms, attending to any project that has to be done,
whether it be cleaning, restocking or decorating. She cites her favorite part about working at Palms as “working with the family and seeing all of the beautiful works of art we carry, as
well as hanging out with all of the awesome employees.” When asked what it’s like working with so many family members, Ashley says “it’s fun, and it strengthens the bond
of our family and our mutual goals of making the business succeed.”
Ashley’s favorite artist is Gary Sanchez because his work is much more contemporary than a lot of the more traditional work we tend to see in the store. She also loves turquoise, not only
because of its beauty but because of its versatility: it comes in various colors and styles. Ashley can almost always be found modeling some type of turquoise jewelry from the store while she is
attending to customers in jewelry. Ashley’s extensive knowledge of our inventory as well as her encouraging attitude and personality make her a perfect addition to the Palms team, and a catalyst
for the rest of us to work as hard as we can to serve you.
In her down time, Ashley enjoys playing poker, video games and basketball, shopping, and hanging out with her family. While she is not currently enrolled in any college courses, she plans on going
back to school to obtain a nursing degree in the future. Her favorite type of food is Italian and she is a big fan of classic rock and roll. In the spirit of the season, Ashley states that her
favorite part about the holidays is not only the food (our grandmother makes a delicious Italian Christmas dinner every year), but shopping and seeing the reaction on people’s faces when
they open their gifs. Ashley’s return to Palms has certainly been a gift to us, and to all of the customers she has aided in finding presents for their loved ones or their own personal treasures.
Welcome back, Ashley.
The
New Mexico Pueblo Scholarship Fund:
Rewarding Deserving Pueblo Students
By Guy Berger
Our New Mexico Pueblo Scholarship Fund is entering its 4th year, providing three $500.00 scholarships for deserving graduating seniors
of several of our New Mexico Pueblos. Students from Jemez Pueblo and San Felipe Pueblo have been recipients in previous years.
These scholarships, though not large, are very much appreciated by those students to whom they have been awarded. This money has been used to help these young students with books, supplies and
tuition at the schools of their choice. A wide range of higher education has been chosen by these students, such as Central New Mexico Community College, The University of New Mexico, several art
schools and some trade schools.
We are proud to have initiated this program and appreciate the donors who have helped us continue it over the past three years.
If you would like to donate to this worthwhile cause, we’d love to include you. By donating, you’ll be investing in the future of these special kids and helping them to become important
parts of their communities. We’ll also provide you with information on who receives the money and how it was used.
I’m hoping more people can participate so we can expand to more students from more New Mexico Pueblos. Please call me at 1-800-748-1656 if you’re interested in helping us. |
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