05/28/2026
“Unearthing Futures / Desenterrando Futuros” Artist Spotlight: Carole Crews
Carole Crews is an artist, builder, and educator whose work has been central to sustaining and transmitting earthen knowledge in northern New Mexico. Born and raised in Taos, she grew up within a landscape shaped by adobe architecture and mud plaster.
Crews’ practice bridges art and architecture, ranging from sculpted plaster reliefs and murals to built environments. For decades, she has been immersed in earthen building traditions, adobe construction, mud plaster, and alíz (a clay slip finish). Her development of contemporary alíz finishes reflects a deep understanding of both tradition and adaptation.
Crews holds a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin, and teaches via workshops, collaborations, and her publication Clay Culture: Plasters, Paints and Preservation. As an enjarradora, Crews’ legacy resides not only in finished surfaces, but in the knowledge she has carried forward and shared.
Images courtesy Carole Crews.