Preserving authentic human-made craft.
The T.Skies Artist Co-Op is a 501(c)(3) non-profit centered on Native American and Southwestern silversmithing — protecting the artists, the materials, and the traditions from a marketplace racing toward automation, mass production, and dishonest representation. In Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded by silversmiths. Run by people who still make things with their hands.
Centered on Native silversmithing — and built to protect it.
We work alongside Diné (Navajo), Hopi, Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo), Zuni, Acoma, San Ildefonso, and Spanish-heritage silversmiths in our shared workshop. We provide them studio space, professional photography, marketing support, and direct connection to collectors who value their work and pay them fairly.
We fund the next generation through our KITA Scholarship — Keeping Indigenous Traditions Alive — in partnership with CNM’s Bench Jewelry program and the Fuse Makerspace.
Mary Coriz Lovato (1936–2024) — Kewa Pueblo
“I’m praying for everybody — not for myself, but for the whole universe. I talk to my jewelry when I make it.”
Pioneer of shell-mosaic inlay in the late 1950s — a style that has since become the defining contemporary Kewa signature. Mother of seven, including the Thunderbird-inlay master Isaac Coriz (1977–2022). Carrier of the Coriz family healing-hand design across three generations.
Spend two hours making something only your hands can.
Carve a piece of jewelry in wax. Watch our silversmiths cast it in real silver, bronze, or 14k gold using the ancient lost-wax method. Take home a one-of-a-kind piece you made yourself.
2-hour guided session. No experience needed. $75 per person. Sessions Thursday 6:30 PM and Saturday 3:00 PM.
Visiting Albuquerque? Tourists are welcome — finished pieces ship anywhere in the US, free.
Support the work
Some experiences should stay human. Help us preserve them.
Three ways to support the Co-Op: donate money (tax-deductible, recurring monthly options available), donate jewelry from your collection (auctioned at Live Shows or sold through T.Skies with all proceeds returning to the Co-Op), or join our Inner Circle as a monthly member.
$500 covers one month of a KITA student’s tuition + materials.
Visit our partner gallery — T.Skies on Menaul.
The artists in our Silversmith Directory have their work for sale at T.Skies — our partner gallery on Menaul Boulevard in Albuquerque. Every piece is hallmarked, attributed, and priced to honor the artist. 5% of every Signature Collection purchase returns to the Co-Op to fund our work.
The Silversmith Directory is edited by Mateo James.
Silversmith. T.Skies Co-Op founder. Chronicler of the human-made jewelry traditions of the Southwest. Of Spanish and Indigenous descent, Mateo writes the Directory as an ongoing scholarly contribution to documenting the makers, lineages, and stories of the Native American and Southwestern silversmiths whose work passes through Albuquerque.
A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit, founded 2019 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Endorsed at our Grand Opening by then-U.S. Representative Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), now Secretary of the Interior. Programs run in partnership with CNM’s Bench Jewelry program, the Fuse Makerspace, and T.Skies Gallery on Menaul Boulevard.