MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION | SUMMER 2020
Visioning the Vladem
Table of Contents LETTER TO MEMBERS
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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VLADEM CONTEMPORARY
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MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS AND CULTURE
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MUSEUM OF INTERNATIONAL FOLK ART
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NEW MEXICO HISTORY MUSEUM
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NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART
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NEW MEXICO HISTORIC SITES
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OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES
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CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
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LICENSING PROGRAM
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WAYS TO GIVE
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Our Mission Cover: Emil James Bisttram, The Flaming One, 1964. Oil on canvas. Promised gift to the New Mexico Museum of Art from William Dailey and Nicole Panter Dailey. Below: Ron Cooper, Light Trap 8201, 1982. Polyester, resin, fiberglass, plexiglass. New Mexico Museum of Art collection. Gift of Gifford and Joann Phillips, 1993 (1993.48.1).
The Museum of New Mexico Foundation supports the Museum of New Mexico system, in collaboration with the Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. The Foundation’s principal activities are fund development for exhibitions and education programs, retail and licensing programs, financial management, advocacy and special initiatives. The Foundation serves the following state cultural institutions: • Museum of Indian Arts and Culture • Museum of International Folk Art • New Mexico History Museum • New Mexico Museum of Art • New Mexico Historic Sites • Office of Archaeological Studies
Member News Contributors Mariann Lovato, Managing Editor Carmella Padilla, Writer and Editor Molly Boyle, Writer Saro Calewarts, Designer and Photographer
Dear Members, As we all navigate the uncharted terrain of the Coronavirus pandemic, this issue of Member News is a hopeful reminder that museums will always matter, culture is everlasting, folk art connects the world and history is our best teacher. Our cover story, beginning on page 3, outlines some of the exciting plans for the inaugural year of the New Mexico Museum of Art’s Vladem Contemporary. Both locations—the Railyard building now in progress and the museum on Santa Fe’s historic Plaza—will be used to tell the story of the Museum of Art’s unique collections. Another project underway at the Museum of Art is the expansion of the library in the 1917 building on the Plaza. This will make room for the Beaumont Newhall Library, a photographic research archive on long-term loan to the museum from the City of Santa Fe. Formerly housed at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, preparations are now being made for the library’s installation. You will also learn about two extraordinary exhibitions currently in development: Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and Dressing with Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia at the Museum of International Folk Art. Both explore unique perspectives on art and cultural identity. Meanwhile, at the New Mexico History Museum’s Hertzstein Galleries, the exhibition Looking Back: Reflecting on Collections addresses important questions about collecting, protecting and preserving historical objects. And at the New Mexico Historic Sites, development of a new permanent exhibition at the Bosque Redondo Memorial continues. As I write, all of our cultural institutions are closed. But all of their staff are working hard to ensure that you have access to robust online programming, including virtual exhibitions, at-home educational activities, and collections and archival research information. Visit the Foundation’s website at museumfoundation.org/virtual-visit/ to learn more. Also look for upcoming members-only opportunities online.
“Your membership is our lifeline.” —Jamie Clements Photo © Daniel Quat Photography
I hope you find both restoration and inspiration in this issue of Member News. During this difficult time, please know that the Foundation is relying almost exclusively on membership dues to fund our operations, including the support services we provide to the state museum system. Your membership is our lifeline—and a direct line to presenting these wonderful stories of the art, culture and history of New Mexico and the world. We are tremendously grateful for your support! Sincerely,
Jamie Clements President/CEO
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Museum of New Mexico Foundation Board of Trustees 2019–20 OFFICERS Guy Gronquist, Chair Harriet Schreiner, Vice Chair Maria Gale, Vice Chair John Rochester, Treasurer Frieda Simons Burnes, Secretary
The Museum of New Mexico Foundation joins all of Santa Fe in mourning the loss of our beloved Charmay Allred. The Foundation was one of many organizations in our community that was made infinitely better through her involvement. Charmay was a Foundation trustee for more than 20 years, a member of our Founders and Legacy societies, and a longtime member of the leadership of the Friends of Archaeology. Her presence graced our many events over the years and our staff were regulars at Charmay nights at Pranzo and Vanessie. Charmay was a contributor to and champion of every Foundation initiative and campaign for the Museum of New Mexico system, and we will be forever grateful for her support. Her graciousness and generosity extended to innumerable individuals as well, including many students whom she mentored to astounding careers. Above all, we loved and adored Charmay. Her wit and spirit will endure in us all, for all time.
VOTING TRUSTEES Catherine A. Allen Anne Bingaman Cynthia Bolene William Butler Julia Catron Bryan “Chip” Chippeaux Kathryn King Coleman Sharon Curran-Wescott Christie Davis Sherry Davis Rosalind Doherty Diane Domenici George Duncan John Duncan Kirk Ellis Jed Foutz Robert Glick Pat Hall Chris Hall Bud Hamilton Steve Harris David Hawkanson Susie Herman Rae Hoffacker Peggy Hubbard Ann Rather Livingston Jim Manning Christine McDermott George Miraben Michael Ogg Sara Otto Dan Perry Michael Pettit Skip Poliner Kathleen Pugh Jerry Richardson Wilson Scanlan Nan Schwanfelder Judy Sherman Bob Vladem Matt Wilson David Young
Bob Bauernschmitt Dorothy H. Bracey Robert L. Clarke Stockton Colt Liz Crews Joan Dayton Steve Dunn Carlos Garcia Leroy Garcia J. Scott Hall Stephen Hochberg Ruth Hogan Barbara Hoover Kent F. Jacobs, M.D. Jim Kelly Bruce Larsen Lawrence Lazarus, M.D. Martin Levion David Matthews Helene Singer Merrin Doris Meyer Beverly Morris Kate Moss Mark Naylor Patty Newman Dennis A. O’Toole, Ph.D. Jane O’Toole J. Edd Stepp Suzanne Sugg Courtney Finch Taylor Nancy Meem Wirth Claire Woodcock Robert Zone, M.D. HONORARY TRUSTEES Jim Duncan Jr. John Marion Edwina and Charles Milner J. Paul Taylor Carol Warren Eileen A. Wells TRUSTEES EMERITI Thomas B. Catron III Saul Cohen Alan Rolley Marian Silver James Snead
ADVISORY TRUSTEES Victoria Addison Keith K. Anderson John Andrews JoAnn Balzer
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Museum of What’s Happening Now Vladem Contemporary Looks Ahead
In 1917, Museum of New Mexico founder Edgar Lee Hewett launched a cutting-edge artistic experiment in Santa Fe. With Ashcan School painter Robert Henri, Hewett dreamed up a museum with a progressive open-door policy that would allow local artists to exhibit their work. As Hewett and Henri envisioned it, the striking new museum would not only showcase the finest artists the region had to offer, it would also help to define New Mexico’s place among the greater art world. Designed to have a lasting footprint on the historic Santa Fe Plaza, the institution was constructed in the Pueblo Revival style. Over the next hundred years, it would come to symbolize the city’s artistic and architectural identity. With the future opening of the Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe’s Railyard District, today’s New Mexico Museum of Art expands that century-old mission. The identity behind the Vladem’s facade—a mantra of “one museum, two locations”—is in the service of a unified vision between the old and the new. The Vladem’s first year of programming is centered around a three-exhibition trifecta that uses both buildings—one from the 20th century Plaza, one from the 21st century Railyard—to tell the story of the museum’s unique collection.
year one at the Vladem truly extraordinary,” says Foundation President/CEO Jamie Clements. The inaugural exhibition is envisioned to celebrate the architectural achievement of the new Vladem with works that are planned to be presented, in Scully’s words, “in, on, and around the building.” Those works might include an LED light installation, a public performance, screenings of single-channel video films and displays of large-scale works in the lobby space. “I want to do things in the galleries, I want to do things on the grounds, I want to do things around the grounds so that it’s really alive,” Scully says of her programming goals. “We do have restrictions downtown. The new building takes away some restrictions with a really usable outdoor area, a classroom and an artist’s studio.” Other possible sites of artistic engagement include the Railyard Plaza, near where Rail Runner passengers disembark, as well as the upper terrace of the museum and the area under the building’s overhang.
“We’re continuing to do what we’ve always done,” says Merry Scully, the museum’s curator of contemporary art. ”We’re a living, breathing institution that is a part of the community. And the new location and the different kinds of spaces in it really allow that to happen.”
Scully is centering the Vladem’s first show around the universal theme of shadow and light. “How we see things is through their definition, through shadow and light,” she explains. “It also speaks about ideas of good and evil, those epic themes that are often part of the visual arts.”
Envisioning the Inaugural Exhibition
Visitors will also consider the famous New Mexico light, which brought hordes of photographers and painters to the Land of Enchantment in the 20th century.
The galleries at the Vladem will add 10,000 additional square feet to showcase the museum’s postwar and contemporary collection, which includes both regional, national and international artists. The Vladem is also designed to host electronic, new media and larger-scale works that were impossible to exhibit in the historic Plaza building. In addition to the $12.5 million raised to build the Vladem through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Centennial Campaign is a $2 million funding goal for the Vladem’s inaugural yearlong exhibitions and first three years of programming. “As we pivot our fundraising efforts from capital to programming, we feel confident that the wonderful support our donors gave to the construction project will continue with an equally strong commitment to make
In a metaphorical sense, Scully also is interested in the idea of illuminating more obscure histories. “There’s a broader definition of art history that includes the West, that includes women, that includes people of color, and tying what we’ve been supportive of here for decades to what’s happening nationally and internationally,” she says. At the Vladem, that story is rooted in the Transcendental Painting Group, the pre-World War II group of Southwest painters including Raymond Jonson, Emil Bisttram and Florence Miller Pierce, who embraced spiritual themes through abstraction. From there, the exhibition will Previous page: Photo © Andrew Kastner. Opposite: Florence Miller Pierce, Untitled, 1943. Graphite on paper. Museum purchase with funds from the Boeckman Acquisition Fund, 1997 (1997.48.3). Photo by Cameron Gay.
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move to artworks from the Light and Space, conceptual and land-based art movements in order to spotlight a more inclusive canon of diverse and wildly creative artists from the West and Southwest. Scully says this reconfigured arc is in line with the museum’s original mission. “It’s not just a regional art history, it’s going to be an art history that includes our region. As people are redefining what ‘American art’ means, we’re redefining what’s included in postwar work.”
“We’re continuing to do what we’ve always done. We’re a living, breathing institution that is a part of the community.” Indeed, alongside works from the Museum of Art’s collection, and loans from public and private collections, the museum is discussing new commissions for projects and performances. Confirmed loans for the inaugural exhibition include pieces by South Korean artist Lee Bul, the relatively unsung Light and Space member Helen Pashgian, and renowned sculptor and installation artist Yayoi Kusama. Other artists who might make their way into the show include Ron Cooper, Gloria Graham, Sol LeWitt, Virgil Ortiz, Mike Kelley and Nancy Holt.
Meanwhile, at the Downtown Museum While the Vladem exhibition helps to define New Mexico’s place in the contemporary canon, two additional shows at the New Mexico Museum of Art’s Plaza location will emphasize the museum’s historic Southwest and Modernist collections. A winter 2022 exhibition, tentatively called Western Eyes: Modern Art of the New Mexico Museum of Art and assembled by curator of 20th century art Christian Waguespack, will use the entirety of the historic building to juxtapose work by Southwestern artists with that of major Modernists from elsewhere. Additionally a photography exhibition with the working title Exploding the Canon opens in the New Wing in spring 2022. In that show, curator Katherine Ware aims to display photographs that challenge viewers’ expectations of the genre and underscore the vitality of the museum’s photographic collection. The Vladem represents a fork in the road for the Museum of Art, reaching toward a more nuanced and expanded definition of both Southwest and contemporary art. But Scully emphasizes that the museum’s exhibitions in the Vladem’s first year will highlight different aspects of the same story begun by Hewett and Henri in 1917. “I feel it’s really important we open the Vladem shows before the other shows,” Scully says, “in order to tie the two institutions together.”
The future Vladem Contemporary. Image courtesy DNCA Architects and StudioGP.
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Left: Merry Scully, New Mexico Museum of Art curator of contemporary art. Photo courtesy New Mexico Museum of Art. Right: Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin, 2015. Stainless steel, urethane. Photo courtesy TIA Collection.
Funding the Future In addition to funding the inaugural Vladem exhibition, the Foundation plans to raise an additional $75,000 to fund the inaugural year of public education programs.
“It’s not just a regional art history, it’s going to be an art history that includes our region” “Our commitment to the Museum of Art is to raise the funds needed for both exhibitions and educational programs,” says Clements. In the spirit of the Museum of Art’s longtime community engagement, the Vladem seeks to bring new artists into the fold in various ways. These include adding new works to the collection via artist commissions. Public programs, performances in the classroom space, galleries or outside areas, and an artist-in-residence program are other ideas for artist engagement. Curators are also hoping to build partnerships and community engagement with the Vladem’s surrounding neighborhood, which includes the nearby New Mexico School for the Arts. Scully expresses excitement about the new building’s off-the-Plaza location, noting that while many Santa
Feans tend to avoid the downtown area during the summer tourist season, locals are much more likely to frequent the Railyard—thus having the potential to be drawn in by the Vladem’s highly visible approach to contemporary art. “Often people think of us as a museum for just occasional special shows, or for tourists,” Scully says. “I think being in the Railyard firmly ties us to what’s happening in the arts in New Mexico now.” Scully points to a quote from Edgar Lee Hewett, which despite its antiquated language, expresses the same central ideas. Of the institution he began in 1917, Hewett decorously wrote: “This building that we have erected expresses something of our gratitude for, and appreciation of, these artists. It is an effort to worthily display their works, to bring them the attention of the world, to the end that multitudes may share our pleasure.” As the Vladem Contemporary extends the art museum’s reach from the Plaza to the Railyard, from the old to the new, Hewett’s goals are as relevant as ever.
Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and education programs at the New Mexico Museum of Art, contact Kristin Graham at 505.216.1199 or Kristin@museumfoundation.org.
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Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Come Together— Digitally! As Museum of Indian Arts and Culture staff weather the coronavirus pandemic at home, their work on future exhibitions and educational programming continues. Staff are also devising current and creative ways to reach museum-goers digitally, ensuring that you stay close to the museum while staying home. These online offerings enable the public to explore various objects from exhibitions via social media and the museum website. A vast research and collections page, including an online library and classroom curricula to keep students busy, can also be accessed from home. Visit these resources and stay connected today!
indianartsandculture.org • Library • Online Exhibitions • Podcasts • Research and Collections • Wonders of the World Educational Curriculum
Social Media • Facebook • YouTube • Vimeo Visit museumfoundation.org/ virtual-visit for links to all online resources.
Clearly Original
Indigenous Expressions in Glass The story of Native American glass art is one of fusion and transparency, like the medium itself. It involves the meeting of two minds: pioneering glass sculptor Dale Chihuly and Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) co-founder Lloyd Kiva New (Cherokee), who got together in the 1970s to invite a generation of Native artists to practice glass making. Their artistic and cultural exchange is explored in Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Re-Imagined in Glass, a groundbreaking future exhibition being planned for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. The show highlights the work of 29 indigenous North American artists with that of two Australian Aboriginal and two Maori glassworkers, for a total, with Chihuly, of 34 featured artists. “We’ve basically tapped all of the artists who are doing significant work in glass from the U.S., and also from Northwest Canada,” says Letitia Chambers, former CEO of the Heard Museum and co-curator of the show with Cathy Short (Potawatomi). She adds that she was surprised and delighted to watch the show grow to represent the entire lifespan of Native glass work. Early works include pieces from IAIA student Larry Avakana (Inupiaq) and his teacher Carl Ponca (Osage). Second-generation glass artists such as Preston Singletary (Tlingit) and Dan Friday (Lummi) are represented, as well as contemporary Pueblo artists such as Virgil Ortiz (Cochiti Pueblo) and Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo), who primarily work in other mediums.
“For art lovers in New Mexico, it’s going to be an exhibit that’s worthy of their support.” Chambers traces the genesis of the exhibition to a conversation she had with New more than 20 years ago. Before his death in 2002, New told Chambers how the Studio Glass and contemporary American Indian art movements came together to create an art genre all its own: Native American glass art. Chambers always knew she wanted to tell that particular story. After she left the Heard, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture director Della Warrior convinced Chambers to bring Clearly Indigenous to Museum Hill. An accompanying book from Museum of New Mexico Press is also in the works.
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Left: Raven Skyriver (Tlingit), Submerge. Photo courtesy KP Studios. Right: Jody Naranjo (Santa Clara Pueblo) and Preston Singletary (Tlingit), Flying South for the Winter. Photo courtesy Blue Rain Gallery.
Chambers notes that the cultural exchange that took place in 1974, when Chihuly left the Rhode Island School of Design to teach glassmaking at IAIA, went both ways. “Dale Chihuly was influenced by his stay here and by American Indian arts,” she says. Chihuly blew glass cylinders of Navajo blankets, and Chambers also notes that the influence of Northwest coast tribal basketry is evident in many of his glass baskets. Clearly Indigenous also gathers pieces from Pueblo potters in collaboration with Tlingit blower Preston Singletary, who crafts vessels for artists to carve and paint designs upon. “Those are some of the most interesting pieces,” says Chambers. She’s also jazzed about another Tlingit artist, Raven Skyriver, who crafts large sea creatures in glass. The Museum of New Mexico Foundation has set a goal of $200,000 in private support to help mount the show,
which will take up all four rooms of the museum’s Masterpiece Gallery. This includes the cost of shipping glass works and creating original mounts and specialized lighting in the exhibition space. Sponsorship opportunities range from $5,000 to $25,000. Exhibition-related educational programming requires funding as well. Excitement for the show is already at an all-time high. “For art lovers in New Mexico, it’s going to be an exhibit that’s worthy of their support,” Chambers says. Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and education programs at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, contact Celeste Guerrero at Celeste@museumfoundation.org or 505.982.2282.
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Museum of International Folk Art Digital Direct— To You! As Museum of International Folk Art staff weather the coronavirus pandemic at home, their work on future exhibitions and educational programming continues. Staff are also devising current and creative ways to reach museum-goers digitally, ensuring that you stay close to the museum while staying home. These online offerings include the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs concert series “Our Fair New Mexico,” featuring virtual concerts from such beloved artists as Rob Martinez and Lara Manzanares. The concerts are presented in conjunction with the museum’s Música Buena: Hispano Folk Music of New Mexico exhibition. Visit these resources and stay connected today!
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Blog Online Collection Online Exhibitions Multiple Visions: A Common Bond Online
Wearing Your Purpose The Politics of Dress
Viewing Dressing with Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia, an upcoming Museum of International Folk Art exhibition, may cause visitors to reconsider the seemingly innocuous folk costumes and flower crowns of the 2019 movie drama, Midsommar. The exhibition details the traditional costumes of the Swedish folkdräkt, Norwegian bunad and Sámi gákti—and the various implications that go along with donning these types of clothing. Along with intricate embroidery and fine leatherwork, the wearers of these outfits show off a sense of belonging, a set of values and an allegiance to history. Folk Art Museum textile curator Carrie Hertz explains that two centuries of shifting Scandinavian politics and demographics have shaped not only the development of this dress, but how, where and why it is worn. “It’s a really malleable way of communicating,” Hertz says. “It has been used by all different kinds of people with all different kinds of agendas, from the far right to the far left. You have people battling with each other over what it means.” The traditional garb is rooted in various regional concerns. Beginning in the 19th century, as Swedes worried about the toll of urbanization, industrialization and emigration, preserving certain older styles of dress took on new cultural significance. Meanwhile, Norwegians used Left: Sven Roos in Gagnefsdräkt and Lars-Erik Backman in Leksandsdräkt protecting their fiddles from the rain at Midsummer celebrations in Dalarna province, Sweden. Right: Fatima Aakhus and Randi Myrum in Setesdalsbunader, Norway. Photos by Carrie Hertz, 2015
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Young women dressed for Syttende Mai (Norwegian National Day), Oslo, Norway. Photo by Chloe Accardi, 2018.
their dress to define a struggle for national independence, and indigenous Sámi wore traditional clothing to make their culture politically visible within countries where they were often treated as outsiders. It’s hard to see how a brightly colored peasant costume might cause controversy. But in examining the surrounding politics, the implications of certain style decisions become clear. Hertz mentions new hijabs designed by Norwegians to accompany the bunad styles. Those who decry such innovations argue that Islam has no place in Norwegian national identity. In Sweden, an ongoing battle rages between anti-immigration Swedish Democrats—who have used folk costumes as a display of mighty ethnic identity—and small communities that would rather keep their regional traditions out of the political fray. Revivalists of folk music and dance are also swept up in these arguments. Hertz mentions a Swedish alliance called the Folkmusiker mot rasism (Folk Musicians Against Racism). Sara Parkman, co-founder of that group, says, “Those of us who see ourselves as being part
of the world of folk music also have to understand that the world of folk music also was established on nationalistic foundations.” Nearly $160,000 in private funding is needed to help Dressing with Purpose come alive for viewers. The museum’s supply of mannequins needs replenishing, says Hertz, noting that those modular displays don’t come cheap. Acquisitions, education programs and public events are other costs. The museum also seeks to cover the costly travel of several collaborators who live in rural Scandinavia.
Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and education programs at the Museum of International Folk Art, contact Caroline Crupi at Caroline@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0829.
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New Mexico History Museum Digital Dive— Into History!
Reflecting History
As New Mexico History Museum staff weather the coronavirus pandemic at home, their work on future exhibitions and educational programming continues.
A 1760 retablo of Santa Barbara painted by Bernardo Miera y Pacheco. Gustave Baumann’s printing press. A photograph of a woman in a flapper dress, circa 1920.
Staff are also devising current and creative ways to reach museum-goers digitally, ensuring that you stay close to the museum while staying home. These online offerings include community-sourced personal stories as well as featured photos from the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives collection. Visit these resources and stay connected today!
nmhistorymuseum.org • Digital Books • Digital Collection • Historic Maps as a Teaching Tool Curriculum Interactives • Lectures • Online Exhibitions • Palace of the Governors Online Exhibitions • Palace of the Governors Photo Archives • Photo Archives Blog • Podcasts
Palace Collections in Context
These are just a few examples of the wide-ranging collections at the Palace of the Governors. The New Mexico History Museum spotlights more than 300 of these objects, documents and images in the exhibition Looking Back: Reflecting on Collections, currently scheduled through March 7, 2021. Looking Back displays textiles, WPA-commissioned artworks, retablos and bultos, international art and artifacts, historic and contemporary regional photographs, and even an early 20th century hearse buggy. Lead curator Alicia Romero and her History Museum collaborators dug deep to find objects that tell intriguing stories beyond their beauty or value. Because of ongoing renovations at the Palace of the Governors, exhibiting what Romero calls “a small fraction” of the collection in the History Museum building was a rare opportunity to show these treasures in different contexts. Rather than letting the items speak for themselves, Looking Back expresses some of the difficult questions curators must ask about them. “Why do we have this?” Romero asks rhetorically. “Is it appropriate to have this? Was it appropriate to collect it? Was that a fair deal?” Left: Mescalero Apace moccasins, ca. 1880. NMHM/DCA 1990.414.013ab. Middle: Mescalero Apache bone awl and case, ca. 1870. NMHM/DCA 1990.414.010ab. Right: Jicarilla Apache moccasins, ca. 1880. NMHM/DCA 1990.414.005ab. Photo by Blair Clark.
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Harley Davidson WLD motorcycle, 1940. NMHM/DCA 2014.030.001ab. Gift of Francis H. Harlow. Photo by Blair Clark.
Looking Back also presents the institutional challenges of maintaining historical collections in the 21st century, including the ongoing travails of trying to keep a collection of various ages and materials intact in an institution dependent on public funding.
Private support is also needed for public workshops. These will address how to build a family archive or repair a valuable but damaged book. And a lecture series featuring local experts will educate the public on the ethical collection and repatriation of museum objects.
A prime example is that century-old hearse. How do museum staff collaborate to store, conserve and restore such a thing?
While Looking Back will give all visitors a sense of the Palace’s collection and its unique needs, Romero hopes that local residents will feel a greater sense of connection to items that represent a collective New Mexico heritage.
“As a state institution, we don’t have a lot of funds to go around to take care of all the needs we have,” Romero explains. “The preservation of our objects is really critical and crucial. These are in our care and we need to do the best we can to make sure that they’re available for future generations.” The exhibition is also an opportunity for the museum to engage visitors in dialogue around some of the issues raised in Looking Back. Planned public exhibition programming, which Romero says requires private funding, includes a monthly book club series spotlighting books about collections issues.
“We do want people here to feel like this is their museum,” she says. “They can come back on a regular basis and see something that applies to them.”
Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and education programs at the New Mexico History Museum, contact Yvonne Montoya at 505.216.1592 or Yvonne@museumfoundation.org.
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New Mexico Museum of Art Discover Our Digital Museum! As New Mexico Museum of Art staff weather the coronavirus pandemic at home, their work on future exhibitions and educational programming continues. Staff are also devising current and creative ways to reach museum-goers digitally, ensuring that you stay close to the museum while staying home. These online offerings include the twice-weekly Instagram feature Isolation Inspiration, where local artists share what is inspiring them during this time of social isolation through video and photography submissions. Museum curators are also presenting a series of online exhibitions. Visit these resources and stay connected today!
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Archives Blog Library Catalog Online Collection Online Exhibitions Past Exhibitions
A Natural Home
The Beaumont Newhall Library Most artistic collections have a traceable lineage, often bestowed upon institutions that enjoyed a close relationship with the artist. In the case of the Beaumont Newhall Library, its new home at the New Mexico Museum of Art falls perfectly in line with the collection’s heritage. The Newhall Library photographic research archive is a trove of 3,500 books and catalogs collected by the man many still consider to have written the seminal book on photography. (That would be The History of Photography, published in 1937, just before Newhall became the first curator of the Museum of Modern Art’s photography department.) The collection also includes additional archival material. Newhall was a beloved longtime Santa Fe resident who taught photography at the University of New Mexico after his retirement from his museum career. Former Museum of Art curator of photography Steve Yates was a Newhall student and exhibition collaborator. Santa Fe artist and photo dealer David Scheinbaum also knew Newhall. He provided the Museum of Art with several Newhall prints and portraits of Newhall with photographers Ansel Adams and Willard Van Dyke. David Scheinbaum, Beaumont Newhall, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1982. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Janet Russek and David Scheinbaum in memory of Beaumont Newhall, 1993 (1993.27.1). © David Scheinbaum.
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Museum of Art photography curator Katherine Ware says these interconnections make the museum a natural home for the Newhall Library. “Newhall’s teaching and publications have been tremendously influential,” Ware says. “His history is an active part of the current conversation about photography. His deep well of curiosity and spirit of inquiry are a legacy we’d like to continue to foster at the museum.” The Museum of Art is in the midst of making the Newhall Library available to researchers and the public. The library was transferred to the City of Santa Fe in 2017 from the now-shuttered Santa Fe University of Art and Design’s Marion Center of Photography. Under a longterm loan agreement with the city, the Museum of Art has 18 months to make the Newhall Library accessible. The timeline involves six to eight months of renovations that will expand the museum library’s physical footprint in the 1917 building. That period of construction will be followed by another six to eight months of unpacking and organizing the Newhall Library. Ware says that all the schlepping and construction dust are worth the opportunity to steward the holdings and bring greater focus to the museum as a resource for learning about photography. “This is a moment when the museum is really able to expand some of its functions and become more accessible to the public,” she says. “Making the Newhall Library available is part of that, and the timing is good in that regard, so that we can really give it its due.” In addition, Newhall wished for his library to remain in his adopted hometown. “For us to be able to preserve and share this resource in Santa Fe is a wonderful way to acknowledge Newhall’s many accomplishments and use them as a springboard for the next wave of scholars,” Ware continues. “It’s great to put it in the context of our international photography collection and the richness of the photography community in New Mexico. I hope Newhall would be pleased to have it here.” Immediate plans for drawing on the museum’s collection resources include exhibitions exploring the history of the photographic canon, which Newhall had a strong hand in creating. For her part, Ware is just as
David Scheinbaum, Ansel Adams, Willard Van Dyke and Beaumont Newhall at Weston Beach, Point Lobos, California, on the occasion of Beaumont Newhall’s 75th Birthday, 1983. Gelatin silver print. Museum purchase with funds from Rosina Smith, 1995 (1995.34.4). © David Scheinbaum.
interested in the artists who were in Newhall’s books as those who were not. “I want to take the opportunity to evaluate his intellectual undertaking,” she says. “How do you tell the history of photography? How do you put together a narrative like that, and who gets included and who doesn’t?” Down the line, the museum wants to explore opportunities to raise funds for an annual Newhall lecture series. “Most of us are still in conversation with his books because they were so foundational,” Ware says. “Yet this is a time of such pluralism and revisionism. It would be exciting to celebrate Newhall by bringing in people who are revisiting his work.” Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and education programs at the New Mexico Museum of Art, contact Kristin Graham at 505.216.1199 or Kristin@museumfoundation.org.
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New Mexico Historic Sites Letter of Truth
Renewal at Bosque Redondo On June 27, 1990, a park ranger found a letter at Fort Sumner Historic Site. It was written on two sheets of ruled paper torn from a student’s notebook and signed by more than a dozen Diné student visitors to the site from Arizona and New Mexico. It declared: “We find Fort Sumner’s Historical Site discriminating and not telling the true story behind what really happened to our ancestors in 1864–1868. It seems to us there is more information on “Billy the Kid” which has no significance to the years 1864–1868. We therefore declare that the museum show and tell the true history of the Navajos and the United States military.” The letter compelled the 2005 opening of the Bosque Redondo Memorial, which commemorates the forced relocation of Navajo and Mescalero Apache people from present-day Arizona to the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation during the 1860s. Now, 15 years after the memorial’s establishment, the Native students’ hastily penned protest is still inspiring programming there. This summer, the historic site recognizes the 30th anniversary of the letter by continuing work on a new permanent exhibition Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival. Even after it opens (at a date yet to be determined), the exhibition “will never be finished,” according to its text panels. The intention is to invite further conversations with and contributions from “the communities directly impacted by what happened at this site.” Curatorial decisions for the exhibition reflect three years of conversations between site staff and tribal partners, “over a year of which was just learning how to have a conversation,” says Fort Sumner site manager Aaron Roth. He says that unfinished quality is a hallmark of the ethos at Bosque Redondo, and visitors are encouraged to continue the Native students’ act of questioning and reinterpreting history. Top: A 1990 letter from Diné students inspired the creation of the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner in 2005. Bottom: Churro sheep, grazing alongside a llama at the Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial, are donated by the site to the Navajo Nation. Photos courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
“The first thing you are going to see when you enter that exhibition is the letter,” Roth says, emphasizing its continued significance. The site’s interpretive plan leans on oral history, which aligns factually with over 13,000 archival documents that, as Roth admits from a curatorial standpoint, “lack any type of humanity.” The exhibition will offer visitors the personal perspectives of those who were impacted by the reservation and the journey there. Each gallery will feature quotes from oral histories in Diné, Mescalero Apache and English. The focus is interactive. Visitors will be able to digitally flip through the Treaty of Bosque Redondo and probe the different motivations of the individuals who signed it.
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Navajo students from Ms. Mildred Chiquito’s Native Language class at Albuquerque’s West Mesa High School on a recent field trip to the Bosque Redondo Memorial. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
“This is not a stagnant history,” Roth emphasizes. “It’s still very much alive.” That concept will be embodied in a central storytellers’ room, where visitors can listen to 30 minutes of oral histories read by Navajo and Mescalero Apache voices. Another room will explore the aftermath of what happened when the narrators’ relatives left the Bosque Redondo in 1868. Roth grows more animated in talking about private donor opportunities to contribute to the exhibition’s completion. Funding is needed for a formal exhibition opening with refreshments, traditional Native dances, craft vendors, and a kids’ corner with interactive art and archaeology lessons. Private funding is also needed to bolster the ongoing Churro sheep program at the site, where the surplus of a flock is annually donated back to the Navajo Nation to support weaving and husbandry traditions. The Bosque
Redondo team aims to grow the size of the current flock from 27 sheep to 75, with 25 to 30 sheep a year being donated to Diné families. Recently, one family gave the site a wool blanket woven from a donated sheep. That simple gift underscores the strong regenerative possibilities of the Bosque Redondo, a place where both written and living histories experience renewal.
Plans for future exhibitions, though current as of April 30 press time, are subject to change. To support exhibitions and public programs at the Bosque Redondo Memorial, contact Yvonne Montoya at 505.216.1592 or Yvonne@museumfoundation.org.
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Office of Archaeological Studies Circling Back to the Past They say if you love something, set it free. If it’s meant to be, it will come around again. That’s what happened to Susan Stinson, the new deputy director at the Office of Archaeological Studies. More than a decade ago, Stinson left the field of archaeology for the law, rising to the position of deputy district attorney in Santa Fe County. After several years spent prosecuting violent criminals, she left the DA’s office in 2018 for a quieter life. And, then, she had an epiphany. “I really realized I wanted to be back in archaeology,” she says. In January, Stinson came full-circle, settling in to a new role at the Office of Archaeological Studies. Along with her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of Arizona, Stinson is a petrographer, someone who deals with the description and classification of rocks. The work involves using a polarizing microscope to examine mineral content and textural relationships in ceramic and rock. She plans to set up a small petrography lab at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, home to various other specialized research labs. “That’s something good that I bring to the lab here,” she explains. Stinson will also be a major support to Office of Archaeological Studies director Eric Blinman, who praises her singular combination of field expertise and problemsolving capabilities. “She really is remarkably talented and grounded at the same time,” Blinman says. Stinson says she’s particularly excited to take a role in broadening public education and outreach.
Susan Stinson is the new deputy director at the Office of Archaeological Studies. Photo courtesy Susan Stinson.
“So many of the public education and outreach programs, we do for free, and that’s excellent,” she says. “But if we’re going to expand it, we need additional funding.” For now, Stintson adds, “I love being back in this environment of culture and learning about our past.”
To support the Office of Archaeological Studies, contact Celeste Guerrero at 505.982.2282 or Celeste@museumfoundation.org.
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Corporate Partner Spotlight
Rancho Encantado Santa Fe is a lead corporate partner of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Photo courtesy Four Seasons Resort.
Providing Luxury, Supporting Culture
Rancho Encantado Santa Fe
Unlike its five-star luxury hotel competitors in downtown Santa Fe, the Four Seasons Rancho Encantado Resort is a bit of a trek from the city’s world-class museums. But the chance to bask in the resort’s tranquil setting is worth the 10-mile drive north through Tesuque. A Lead Corporate Partner of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, at the $10,000 level, Rancho Encantado has hosted several Foundation events, including the Foundation’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2012. The Foundation’s annual board meeting receptions have also been held there for the past two years. The resort’s in-house team of catering and event experts provide everything from customized food and beverage services to audiovisual needs and décor. Foundation meetings are often held in the resort’s Aspen Ballroom, which offers abundant natural light. Painterly sunsets and relaxing views of the Rio Grande Valley are the backdrop for receptions in the courtyard, where Foundation board members nibble on such specialties as prickly pear barbecue short ribs, truffle mushroom and prosciutto crudo, and crab cakes with jalapeño aioli.
Michelle Duncan, the resort’s public relations director, says that the partnership with the Foundation is “a natural fit” based on both institutions’ shared goals. She adds that it’s strengthened by the active role of Nicole Fiacco, the resort’s sales and marketing director, on the Foundation’s Business Council committee. “Four Seasons is involved in the Foundation because the resort believes that the Museums of New Mexico (as well as the historic sites and other cultural institutions) are incredibly important,” Duncan says. “They offer a great experience and are a significant part of the destination when it comes to preserving and educating people on the region’s rich history, heritage and vibrant cultures.” Indeed, just as the Foundation helps to preserve and protect valuable cultural objects and places, the resort strives to foster its guests’ appreciation for those places and traditions. Duncan says that an integral part of every employee’s job is to “encourage guests to visit the museums and historic sites.” For information about corporate partnership, contact Mariann Lovato at 505.216.0849 or Mariann@museumfoundation.org.
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Licensing Program All the Trimmings The Archive Collection
The Archive Collection, a new trimmings collection developed for Pindler, a leading international wholesaler of decorative fabrics and trimmings, is the latest introduction from the licensing program of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Designed and manufactured for Pindler by Foundation licensee Classical Elements, the collection of trims, decorative tapes and fringe was inspired by textiles, objects and garments from the Museum of International Folk Art. “We are thrilled to see the handwork of the world’s artisans translated into such beautiful and varied product,” says Pamela Kelly, Foundation vice president of licensing and brand management. The collection’s stunning mélange of texture, pattern and color draws from the unique materials, methods of manufacture and motifs of regional textile traditions from around the world, including 11 distinct patterns: Aswan, multicolored tassel fringe inspired by a Middle Eastern beaded wool camel bridle. Edo, dotted trim tape with a chenille figure derived from sashiko needlework on a northern Japanese work vest. Malay, trim tape with woven medallion design inspired by a patterned rattan palm mat native to Borneo.
Rebozo, trim tape with ribbed design knit with multicolored yarns inspired by a 19th century Mexican shawl. Capa, raffia trim tape inspired by the textured pattern of a traditional Mexican woven palm fiber rain cape. Shari, two-color geometric trim tape design inspired by a northern Japanese sashiko needlework coat. Orsa, trim tape with multicolored geometric design and chenille dot motif inspired by a 19th century Swedish embroidered pillow cover. Yunnan, printed geometric trim tape design interpreted from a Chinese batik-dyed tunic sleeve. Kasai, classic trim cord design with a natural linen aesthetic inspired by a woven raffia belt from the African Republic of Zaire. Annaba, multicolored trim cord design inspired by a colorful hand-woven bed cover from Algeria. Imbabura, wrapped, multicolored trim cord design inspired by tasseled tufts on a 20th century Ecuadorian ceremonial headdress. The Archive Collection is distributed exclusively by Pindler fabrics and is available at its 16 corporate and seven independent showrooms across the United States, and two in Canada.
PHOTOS COURTESY PINDLER
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Ways to Give Membership
Education Funds
Support the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s ability to deliver essential services to our 13 partner cultural institutions while offering enjoyable member benefits.
Fund museum education and outreach programs at our four museums, eight historic sites and the Office of Archaeological Studies.
The Circles
Exhibition Development Fund
Leadership-level membership that gives members access to a series of exclusive events.
Support exhibitions, related programming and institutional advancement at the division of your choice.
Circles Explorers
Planned Gift
A Circles membership group whose members explore the art, culture and history of New Mexico through active, adventurous cultural excursions and other unique experiences.
Provide a lasting impact at our 13 partner cultural institutions through an estate gift, bequest, charitable gift annuity or gift of art.
Corporate Partners and Business Council
Establish a new fund, or add to the principal of an existing fund, to provide a reliable source of annual income that sustains a variety of cultural programs and purposes.
Support the museums through your business and receive recognition and member benefits for your business, clients and employees.
Friends Groups Support your favorite museum divisions through fundraising, advocacy and activities that benefit division programs and provide meaningful connections to other Friends members.
Endowment
Special Campaigns Give to special campaign initiatives designed to fund a range of capital expansions and programming advances throughout the Museum of New Mexico system.
Annual Fund Provide critical operating support for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation to fulfill its mission on behalf of our 13 partner cultural institutions.
For more information, visit museumfoundation.org/give.
Museum of New Mexico Foundation Staff EXECUTIVE OFFICE Jamie Clements Jamie@museumfoundation.org Francesca Moradi 505.216.0826 Francesca@museumfoundation.org
DEVELOPMENT Caroline Crupi
Yvonne Montoya
New Mexico History Museum New Mexico Historic Sites
505.216.1592 Yvonne@museumfoundation.org
GRANTS Peggy Hermann 505.216.0839 Peggy@museumfoundation.org
Museum of International Folk Art
505.216.0829 Caroline@museumfoundation.org Kristin Graham
New Mexico Museum of Art
505.216.1199 Kristin@museumfoundation.org Celeste Guerrero PHOTOS ©
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Office of Archaeological Studies
505.982.2282 Celeste@museumfoundation.org
MEMBERSHIP Saro Calewarts 505.216.3016 Saro@museumfoundation.org Mariann Minana-Lovato 505.216.0849 Mariann@museumfoundation.org Cara O’Brien 505.216.0848 Cara@museumfoundation.org
Brittny Wood 505.216.0837 Brittny@museumfoundation.org
Kylie Strijeck 505.216.0651 Kylie@museumfoundation.org
FINANCE
LICENSING
Tammie Crowley 505.216.1619 Tammie@museumfoundation.org
Pamela Kelly 505.216.0614 Pamela@museumfoundation.org
Georgine Flores 505.216.1651 Georgine@museumfoundation.org
OPERATIONS Sachiko Hunter-Rivers 505.216.1663 Sachiko@museumfoundation.org
SHOPS Sara Birmingham 505.216.0725 Sara@museumfoundation.org
For a full Foundation staff list, visit: museumfoundation.org/staff
Shop All Four Museum Shops or Online at shopmuseum.org
Be inspired with the jewelry assortment at the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Shops! For special occasions or extra special gifts, indulge with a unique, authentic, original and trustworthy gift of jewelry. Shop online or in our four beautiful museum stores. Santa Fe Plaza New Mexico Museum of Art The Spiegelberg Shop at the New Mexico History Museum
Museum Hill Museum of International Folk Art Colleen Cloney Duncan Museum Shop at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
