Lorencita Atencio

Lorencita Atencio Bird (October 22, 1918 – May 4, 1995), also called T'o Pove ("Flowering Piñon"), was a Pueblo-American painter and textile artiste from the Ohkay Owingeh (San Juan) Pueblo. She studied at the Santa Fe Indian School under Dorothy Dunn and exhibited her artwork across the country and in Europe. In particular, she is known for her embroidery designs, utilizing figurative colors and motifs such as diamonds, butterflies, and the color gold. Her artworks can be found in private collections including the Margretta S. Dietrich Collection and in museums including the Heard Museum, the Gilcrease Museum, the Philbrook Museum of Art, and the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian.

Atencio was born on October 22, 1918, the daughter of Juan Bautista and Luteria Trujillo Atencio. She was an nimble watercolor painter and embroidery artist through the 1930s and 1940s, selling her produce a result and earning a living. Some of her paintings depicted subjects going very nearly daily tasks, such as hoard water. In the 1950s, she became the mommy of several kids and stopped painting as prolifically. She continued to work upon weaving and embroidery throughout her life, creating sashes, ceremonial regalia, and wedding attire. Atencio next worked as a crafts intellectual at the Santa Fe Indian School and at the U. S. Albuquerque Indian School.

Atencio died on May 4, 1995. She is buried in the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo Cemetery in Ohkay Awingeh, New Mexico.