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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 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 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 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).
Michelle Gallagher Roberts is the deputy director of New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and previously served the department as Chief Registrar then Head of Registration and Collections at New Mexico Museum of Art, and also served as the Acting Registrar at the Museum of International Folk Art. Prior to moving to New Mexico, Michelle was the Collections Manager at Palm Springs Desert Museum/Palm Spirits Art Museum, Curatorial Assistant at Foothills Art Center in Golden, Colorado, Assistant Registrar at the University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, and an Archaeologoist at Central Washington Archaeological Survey in Ellensburg, Washington. She has written multiple publications on museums and cultural institutions and received the “Heritage Preservation Award: Architectural Heritage” from the Cultural Properties Review Committee in 2018. She was a Next Generation 2017 Fellow at the Getty Leadership Institute, Claremont Graduate University and holds both a BS in Anthropology from Central Washington University and a MA in Anthropology/Museum Studies from University of Denver.
By Michelle Gallagher Roberts In early 2007, staff at the New Mexico Museum of Art were implementing the first phase of planned collecting storage renovations that required all artworks from the first collection storage room be removed from the space to allow for the installation of new state-of-the-art compact art storage. More than 1,700 artworks had to be inventoried and relocated in the span of nine days.
![A weathered metal bell with a rounded top and an inscription reading AÑO D 1835 on its side. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/2019-06-21-10.55.37-400x225.jpg)
BY MICHELLE GALLAGHER ROBERTS More than one bell has graced Acoma tower over the St. Francis Auditorium, ringing in key moments in the New Mexico Museum of Art’s history. These bells have their own stories to tell. One bell is steeped in myth wrapped inside a legend. (more…)
![Spacious lobby with wooden ceiling beams, tiled floor, information desk, digital display screen, and a person seated at the counter. [gen-ai]](https://elpalacio.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Featured_LightLobby-400x225.jpg)
When the New Mexico Museum of Art opened its doors as a purpose-built art gallery for the Museum of New Mexico in 1917, the building exemplified a new/old style of architecture that helped to define Santa Fe Style. As the celebration of the New Mexico Museum of Art’s 100th anniversary approached, museum staff prepared to give the architecturally significant building a thoughtful renovation.
