Potter/ceramicist Juanita Wo-Peen Gonzales was born Juanita Archuleta at Taos Pueblo, New Mexico in 1909, a member of the Tiwa tribe. Originally trained in nursing, she didn't pursue pottery until she was in her early twenties when she happened to meet artist Louis Wo-Peen Gonzales. While working in a Taos hospital, she was assigned to Gonzales, a painter and muralist who had recently lost his arm in 25258a hunting accident. The two soon fell in love and married, and settled at Louis' ancestral pueblo, San Ildefonso, to start a family. 

It was after their daughter Adelphia was born in around 1935 that Juanita became interested in the pottery work of Louis' sister-in-law Rose Gonzales, who specialized in the burgeoning modern San Ildefonso techniques. While the tribe was already known for its pottery with painted designs, a modern take on this medium, called "black-on-black," was developed in 1919 by San Ildefonso artists Maria and Julian Martinez. It involved painting traditional designs directly onto clay vessels which were then packed in dung, fired at a high temperaure until the clay became a gun-metal black, and polished so that the painted areas developed a high shine. The Martinez's output proved popular and soon attracted younger Pueblo artists, some of who began incorporating a "cameo" carving technique into their designs. Among these early innovators was Rose, who then trained Juanita.

Juanita soon began selling her work at the Santa Fe Indian Market and the New Mexico State Fair, as well as the Gallup InterTribal Ceremonial and the Eight Northern Pueblos Arts & Crafts shows. Later, she would sell with her daughter, who also became an established Taos Pueblo potter.

In the 1970s Juanita returned to school at the College of Santa Fe and became a participant in Head Start and Home Enrichment programs.  

Juanita Wo-Peen Gonzales continued to work and exhibit until 1981. She died in Taos in 1988.