Diego Romero

Cochiti Pueblo

Diego Romero was born to Santiago Romero, a Cochiti Pueblo Indian, and Nellie Guth, a Euro-American, in Berkeley, California in 1964. He was raised mostly in Berkeley but spent his childhood summers with his father's family at Cochiti. There was a large cultural difference there between hip California and the staid pueblo but when Diego reached adulthood, he applied and was given permission by the tribal council to occupy his grandfather's property.

Diego attended an art school in California, then enrolled at the Institute of American Indian Arts for a year before moving to the Otis Parson School of Design in Los Angeles where he earned his BFA. He went from there to UCLA and earned his MFA in 1993.

Diego's work today is a mix of traditional Cochiti pottery with modernist design. Among the themes he's developed over the years is a series about the 1680 Pueblo Revolt and another series about "Chongo meets 20th Century America."

Diego is married to award-winning Chemehuevi fine art photographer Cara Romero.