Contributors

For over a century, El Palacio has been a forum for voices exploring New Mexico’s art, archaeology, history, and landscape. Explore the writers, photographers, historians, and scientists whose perspectives have defined the magazine’s pages—past and present.

Arthur Sze

Arthur Sze is the current U.S. Poet Laureate. Sze is a poet, translator, and editor. He is the author of twelve books, including Into the Hush, Sight Lines, and others. Sze’s poems have been translated into fifteen languages, and he is the recipient of the National Book Award among many other honors. He lives in Santa Fe.

Deborah Jackson Taffa

Deborah Jackson Taffa is a citizen of the Quechan Nation and Laguna Pueblo. Her memoir Whiskey Tender was a 2024 National Book Award Finalist and was longlisted for the 2025 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. Taffa serves as the director of the MFA in creative writing program at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Cara Romero

Cara Romero is an award-winning contemporary fine art photographer. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero’s expansive oeuvre has been informed by formal training in film, digital, fine art, and commercial photography. She maintains a studio in Santa Fe, regularly participates in Native American art fairs, and was featured in PBS’ Craft in America (2019).

Ross Altshuler

Ross Altshuler works as a contractor for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. He is the co-author of Turquoise, Sky, and Water, the catalog of the exhibit of the same name, and has written for El Palacio and other professional journals.

A silver decorative piece with engraved patterns, set with seven turquoise stones and small turquoise dangles, displayed on a stand against a white background. [gen-ai]

Collecting Culture

By Ross Altshuler In 1932, Dr. Harry Percival Mera (1875-1951), curator at the Laboratory of Anthropology, embarked on a trip to the Navajo Nation with the purpose of assembling an assortment of Navajo silverwork to form the beginnings of the Lab’s jewelry collection. He visited traders throughout the reservation to compile examples with a variety of styles and techniques. Bracelets range from the early pieces with heavy silver and decoration made with the tip of a file, to later ones decorated with handmade or purchased stamps and set with turquoise.

Round ceramic vessel with a central opening, featuring intricate geometric patterns in red, black, and tan tones, photographed on a white background. [gen-ai]

Family Affair

BY ROSS ALTSHULER How do skill, talent, and creativity run through New Mexico’s Native families of artists? When you visit What’s New in New: A Selection from the Carol Warren Collection, you won’t just experience a survey of the best in contemporary pottery rarely seen in one place at one time. You’ll also be able to notice the way family connections express themselves in the assembled works.