Summer 2018 – El Palacio

Black-and-white photo of a soldier with a rifle standing guard over a large group of seated prisoners or detainees in an outdoor camp setting. [gen-ai]

Straight Back to Our Own Country

BY HAMPTON SIDES This story accompanies Esther G. Belin's poem, "The Petition(-ing, er) of Peace(-ful)(mak -ing, -er)." At the War Department, Kit Carson met with generals Phil Sheridan and William Sherman. Sherman was preparing to travel west as part of a special commission to make treaties with numerous tribes. Among other ambitious projects, he and his fellow commissioners would be visiting New Mexico to consider closing down Bosque Redondo.

By Hampton Sides

Categories: Featured, Southwestern history, Staff favorites

A man stands outdoors holding up a handmade mask adorned with feathers and face paint, surrounded by trees. [gen-ai]

Project Indigene in Action

In the spring of 2018, eight dynamic Santa Fe cultural institutions joined forces in a collaboration called Project Indigene to examine perspectives and create awareness of some of the issues facing indigenous art: authenticity, appropriation, activism, and artistic identity. These complex issues sparking public discourse are addressed in works in the permanent collections of these institutions, or works that will be investigated in upcoming exhibitions.

By Amy Groleau, Dakota Mace (Diné), and Marla Redcorn-Miller

Categories: Indigenous arts and cultures

Beaded square textile with geometric patterns in black, teal, purple, and white, bordered with blue and black beads. [gen-ai]

Spheres of Influence

BY MARSHA C. BOL Extraordinary how a small glass bead from the Italian island of Murano or the mountains of Bohemia in the present-day Czech Republic can travel around the world, entering into the cultural life of peoples far distant. Glass beads are the ultimate migrants: Where they start out is seldom where they end up. The Museum of International Folk Art’s exhibition Beadwork Adorns the World (through February 3, 2019) shows what happens to these beads when they arrive at their final destination.

By Marsha C. Bol

Categories: New Mexican cultures, Visual art

Spacious lobby with wooden ceiling beams, tiled floor, information desk, digital display screen, and a person seated at the counter. [gen-ai]

A New Lease on Light

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.

By Michelle Gallagher Roberts

Categories: Visual art

A man and woman standing in front of a colorful wall. [gen-ai]

Neon Signs of Life

BY AMY GROLEAU Gráfica Popular Limeña (the folk graphic tradition of Lima) was born in the streets. It has roots in working-class neighborhoods, on hand-lettered signs for small businesses. Swooping letters in bright colors announcing locksmiths, hair salons, and cevicherías line the market stalls and sidewalks of the city. This graphic tradition blossomed into the fluorescent artwork that has become synonymous with Lima, seen on the ubiquitous posters for chicha (a musical style that blends Colombian cumbia rhythms, Andean folk instruments, and electric guitars) concerts.

By Amy Groleau

Categories: International folk art

A large group of men in suits with ribbons on their lapels stand on stone steps outside a building, posing for a formal group photograph. [gen-ai]

An Adapted Excerpt from Chapter Three: “History and Architecture of the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple”

BY KHRISTAAN VILLELA From its inception, the Santa Fe Scottish Rite Temple was a touchstone in the debate over what architectural style was most appropriate for Santa Fe. A short article in the “Society” section of the Santa Fe New Mexican on November 16, 1912, the day before the grand opening of the Scottish Rite temple, noted that the Alhambra was a symbol of the beauty and romance of Old Spain.

By Khristaan D. Villela

Categories: Uncategorized

Two people with backpacks stand on a rocky cliff edge overlooking a vast valley and distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky. [gen-ai]

Acts of Love and Protection

BY CATALINA VICENTE WITH PW CHATTEY What’s the longest hike you’ve ever been on? A few hours, maybe a day or two? How much ground did you cover? Did you enjoy the scenery? Now imagine a hike that’s a bit longer. Perhaps twenty to thirty miles—in one day. Now repeat—every day—for five months. Add in about 450,000 feet of elevation gained and lost, plus unpredictable bouts of dangerous weather, rattlesnakes, grizzly bears, scarce drinking water, thin air, and some of the most spectacular views on the planet.

By Catalina Vicente Archer and Sherman Hogue

Categories: Featured, Southwestern history

Surreal scene of people sitting at a table as fast food items float around them in a vivid, red-toned environment with a building in the background. [gen-ai]

Building a Photograph

BY KATHERINE WARE Photographer Patrick Nagatani (1945–2017) didn’t just take pictures, he made pictures. While most art photographs are the result of careful choices about subject, framing, lighting, and other factors, Nagatani went to even greater lengths to get the image he wanted. With experience working in Hollywood special-effects and an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles, Nagatani created models and constructed scenes specifically for his camera beginning in the mid-1980s.

Categories: Framework

An antique cast iron book press with ornate detailing sits on a table, with stacks of wrapped items in the background. [gen-ai]

Before Photocopiers

BY PENELOPE HUNTER-STIEBEL I went to visit Tom Leech, curator and director of the Palace Press, in hopes of learning more about the huge, historic printing presses and cases with different typefaces that fill the rooms beyond the Palace of the Governors courtyard. Instead, Tom directed my attention to a tabletop object he identified as a “copy press.” But for its heft, this iron device could have passed for a Victorian gewgaw, something along the lines of door knockers adapted from Renaissance bronzes.

By Penelope Hunter-Stiebel

Categories: New Mexican history, Southwestern history, Visual art

Three children stand together outdoors near chickens and trees, with other people and a baby in the background. [gen-ai]

Fundamentals for a Diné Gathering

BY LUCI TAPAHONSO The enticing scents and dishes of a Diné family meal are always accompanied by children running around and playing nearby, dogs who have that hungry look, and quiet teenagers who lounge about and sometimes help cook and serve. And the large get-togethers are replete with stories, laughter, and sometimes, nostalgic tears. Our family gatherings usually take place at my late parents’ home in Shiprock, which faces Dzil Náóooldilii (Huerfano Mountain), one of the six sacred mountains Interestingly, the main dishes at these gatherings are connected to the sacred mountains which outline Dinétah (Navajo homeland), and the places where our primordial deity, Changing Woman, was born and raised.

By Luci Tapahonso

Categories: Essays and memoir