Dakota Mace, Leah Mata-Fragua, and Margarita Paz-Pedro will lead participants through a hands-on workshop using natural materials to create works that respond to exhibiting artist Dakota Mace’s DAHODIYINII—SACRED PLACES.

Leah Mata Fragua is a yak tityu tityu -North Chumash artist whose place-based practice is grounded in kincentric values, material sovereignty, and cultural continuity. Working with biodegradable materials and creates ephemeral works that return to the land. Her work centers intent, community collaboration, and consensus building, offering slowness as a form of refusal in a world that demands speed, permanence, and extraction.

Born in Albuquerque, NM, raised in Las Cruces, NM and with family in Laguna Pueblo, Margarita Paz-Pedro has ties across NM. Her background (Mexican-American, Laguna Pueblo & Santa Clara Pueblo) is core to her artmaking. She is a ceramic artist, teacher, organizer, and muralist. She received her BFA with an emphasis in Ceramics in 2003 from the University of Colorado-Boulder, an MA in Art Education in 2008 at the University of New Mexico and an MFA in Studio Arts-Integrated Practice from the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2023. She has been able to travel, participate in Artist Residencies and study under some fierce female artists. Since 2009, she has worked as a lead artist with the ALMA Summer Institute of ALMA, creating large-scale public art mosaic murals across New Mexico. She is currently an adjunct professor in Ceramics, where she can reciprocate the knowledge that has been given and shared with her, to others. She is a partner to a fellow artist and together they have a rowdy 12 year old.