Herrera was a rancher, painter and an educator. He was employed by the School of American Research in Santa Fe to depict his people’s customs and traditions, along with Fred Kabotie and Alfonso (Awa Tsireh) Roybal. 

His work is in major collections including at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, the School of American Research in Santa Fe, the Philbrook Art Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Museum of Northern Arizona. Velino Shije Herrera has been featured in Arizona Highways and American Indian Art magazine.Ma-Pe-Wi is cited in Song from the Earth by Jake Highwater, Southwest Indian Painting by Clara Lee Tanner, American Indian Painting by Dorothy Dunn, the Pueblo Indian Painting by Brody, When the Rainbow Touches Down by Tryntje Seymour, American Indian Painters A Biographical Directory by Jeanne Snodgrass, and the Biographical Directory of American Indian Painters by Patrick Lester.