MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION
FALL 2021
Begin Again
Bosque Redondo Memorial Debuts Revised Exhibition
Table of Contents
Cover: Detail of a mural based on the 2012 painting, The Long Walk, by Shonto Begay (Navajo/Diné), at the newly renovated Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival permanent exhibition. The exhibition debuts at the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site October 8-10. Photo courtesy Aaron Roth. Below: Aerial view of the Bosque Redondo Memorial. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
LETTER TO MEMBERS
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
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BOSQUE REDONDO MEMORIAL
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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 MUSEUM OF ART
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NEW MEXICO HISTORY MUSEUM
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OFFICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES
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NEW MEXICO HISTORIC SITES
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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 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 Museum of New Mexico 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
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Dear Members, History has many layers and many voices. This is certainly true of the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site, the subject of our feature article that begins on page 3. The “pioneer history” of the fort was the story told until 17 visiting Navajo students left a letter demanding a retelling from a Native perspective. From that moment in the summer of 1990, an effort was launched to install an updated exhibition about the Long Walk, the United States government’s forced and violent relocation of Navajo (Diné) and Mescalero Apache (N’de) peoples across more than 400 miles between 1863 and 1868. Over those five years, 9,500 Navajo and 500 Mescalero Apache were tortured and imprisoned by the Kit Carson-led U.S. military on the Bosque Redondo Reservation. During Indigenous Peoples Weekend this October, the new exhibition, Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival, will open at the Bosque Redondo Memorial. It is the culmination of 30 years of dedication and collaboration between state officials, Native leaders, and New Mexico Historic Sites staff and volunteers, many of whom you will hear from in our feature story. This issue of Member News also showcases the many educational opportunities offered by the Museum of New Mexico system, from the Tribal Libraries Summer Reading Program sponsored by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture to bilingual education programs and folk art workshops conducted by the Museum of International Folk Art. In downtown Santa Fe, the Friends of History have updated the popular walking tours that start at the New Mexico History Museum. And the New Mexico Museum of Art organized Poetic Justice, an exhibition that showcases three artists—Judith F. Baca, Mildred Howard and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith—who have been active in social justice causes. We are proud of our cultural institutions in New Mexico for engaging in meaningful discourse on diversity, equity and social justice through their exhibitions and educational programs. And, as always, we thank you, our members, for your support in making it all happen.
“We are proud of our cultural institutions in New Mexico for engaging in meaningful discourse on diversity, equity and social justice through their exhibitions and educational programs.” —Jamie Clements
Sincerely,
Jamie Clements President/CEO
Photo © Saro Calewarts.
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MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION
Board of Trustees 2021–2022 OFFICERS
ADVISORY TRUSTEES
Guy Gronquist, Chair Frieda Simons, First Vice Chair Bob Vladem, Second Vice Chair Michael Knight, Treasurer Maria Gale, Secretary
Victoria Addison Keith K. Anderson JoAnn Balzer Robert L. Clarke Stockton Colt France Córdova Liz Crews Sharon Curran-Wescott Jim Davis Joan Dayton Greg Dove George Duncan Karen Freeman Carlos Garcia Leroy Garcia J. Scott Hall Stephen Hochberg Ruth Hogan Barbara Hoover Kent F. Jacobs, M.D. Jim Manning David Matthews Helene Singer Merrin Beverly Morris Blair Naylor Mark Naylor Patty Newman Jane O’Toole Dan Perry John Rochester Wilson Scanlan Harriet Schreiner J. Edd Stepp Courtney Finch Taylor Nancy Meem Wirth Claire Woodcock
VOTING TRUSTEES
Above: The Museum of New Mexico Foundation welcomes our newly elected members of the Board of Trustees. Top row, left to right: Eric Garduño, Gwenn Djupedal and Jim Davis. Bottom row, left to right: Edelma Huntley and France Córdova. Not pictured are Allen Affeldt, Robert Reidy and Little V. West. Photo by Saro Calewarts. Opposite: Navajo women and children photographed during the Bosque Redondo (Long Walk) era, New Mexico, 1864-1868(?). Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, negative number 038207.
Lorin Abbey Allen Affeldt Catherine A. Allen John Andrews Cynthia Bolene William Butler Julia Catron Chip Chippeaux Christie Davis Rosalind Doherty Diane Domenici John Duncan Gwenn Djupedal Kirk Ellis Jed Foutz Eric Garduño Robert Glick Chris Hall Pat Hall Bud Hamilton Steve Harris David Hawkanson Susie Herman Rae Hoffacker Peggy Hubbard Edelma Huntley Bruce Larsen Christine McDermott George Miraben Dan Monroe Kate Moss Michael Ogg, M.D. Dennis A. O’Toole, Ph.D. Sara Otto Michael Pettit Skip Poliner Kathleen Pugh Jenny Ramo Robert Reidy, M.D. Jerry Richardson Judy Sherman Little V. West Laura Widmar David Young
HONORARY TRUSTEES Anne Bingaman Jim Duncan Jr. John Marion Edwina and Charles Milner J. Paul Taylor Carol Warren Eileen A. Wells
TRUSTEES EMERITI Saul Cohen Alan Rolley Marian Silver James Snead
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Truth and Reconciliation A New Beginning at Bosque Redondo
Several years ago, across a crowded room in Santa Fe, Mary Ann Cortese heard the sound of weeping. When Cortese, a Museum of New Mexico Regent, agreed to take part in a series of dialogues about the Bosque Redondo Memorial’s plans for a new permanent exhibition, she expected that emotions would run high. After all, the room contained a group of people with vastly different interests and backgrounds who were there to discuss a particularly painful period in New Mexico history. Seated at small tables were state Department of Cultural Affairs officials, Historic Sites staff, historical research associates, and tribal leaders from the Navajo (Diné) and Mescalero Apache (N’de) communities. Over the past three decades, their collective goal to launch a different narrative at Bosque Redondo had hit more than a few roadblocks.
“Why don’t you tell our story?” asked a letter left at the Fort
From Erasure to Awareness
Sumner-based memorial in the summer of 1990, setting the
On Indigenous Peoples Weekend, October 8-10, the new exhibition, Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival, opens at the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site.
idea in motion. The question came from 17 visiting Navajo students who felt their ancestral trauma had been erased from the historical record. For nearly 30 years—and even after the opening of the Bosque Redondo Memorial in 2005—Historic Sites staff had been striving to more fully and accurately tell that story at the site. By 2017, everyone in the room with Cortese had agreed to install an updated exhibition about the Long Walk, the United States government’s forced and violent relocation of Navajo and Mescalero Apache peoples across more than 400 miles between 1863 and 1868. Over those five years, 9,500 Navajo and 500 Mescalero Apache were tortured and imprisoned by the Kit Carson-led U.S. military on the Bosque Redondo Reservation. With that difficult history in mind, Cortese says she was all the more struck by what she saw in the meeting that day. “We heard crying, and turned and looked. There were two ladies hugging one another. One had a Navajo ancestor from the Long Walk, and the other was a descendant of one of the soldiers. They had come to an agreement on how they felt about it with each other. “We had a lot of moments like that, building up to where we are today,” Cortese says.
In the lead-up to the unveiling, a few key players in its long evolution reflected on the road behind them. Their journey includes more than one scrapped plan, several key funding opportunities and an important period of reconciliation along the way. For Carlota Baca, a former Museum of New Mexico Foundation trustee, it began with a revelation. While serving as co-chair of the Foundation’s development team for what was then the New Mexico State Monuments division, Baca made her first “eye-opening” visit to Bosque Redondo. “I felt so sad that I had never heard of what happened there. I was staggered by the fact that I never knew,” says Baca, an Albuquerque native. “I remember walking around and someone muttered, ‘My God, this was the Navajo Holocaust.’” Baca’s emotional experience at the memorial helped jumpstart the push to better educate site visitors. Another touchstone was the Bosque Redondo Memorial’s 2005 designation as an International Site of Conscience—one of 175 in the United States. These sites honor the need to remember places where atrocities occurred, even in the face of pressure to forget unpleasant histories.
Above left: Entrance to the exhibition Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites. Above right: Former Museum of New Mexico Foundation trustee Carlota Baca. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
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Former State Representative George Dodge Jr., who served in the New Mexico Legislature from 2011 to 2019, was familiar with the history of the Long Walk from teaching it to middle schoolers in Santa Rosa. But even in his New Mexico history classes, he admits, “I never really went into depth with the students about it. There was never enough time.” A visit from Cortese after Dodge was elected to the legislature changed all of that. When he toured the memorial site, he realized the importance of funding a new exhibition.
most crucial element was still missing: participation by the Native communities whose histories the site aimed to tell. “We had the money,” site manager Aaron Roth remembers. “We were faced with the question: do we spend it on an exhibit that is not agreed upon or approved or designed by our tribal partners? Or do we take it back to the beginning?” With the unanimous agreement of State Historic Preservation Officer Jeff Pappas, former Department of Cultural Affairs
“I wanted to see that memorial flourish and see it expanded to its fullest potential. We have to make sure the story’s being told correctly,” he says. He met with Foundation members, Friends of the Bosque Redondo Memorial, Department of Cultural Affairs staff and State Senator Stuart Ingle to see what could be done. Through annual capital outlay requests during his legislative tenure, Dodge helped secure as much as $100,000 in annual funding for Bosque Redondo.
Secretary Veronica Gonzales and Historic Sites Director
Other funding would follow, including a $150,000 challenge grant through the Foundation from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Creating Humanities Communities program. The matching grant generated $300,000 for the Bosque Redondo Memorial. A portion of these funds will support interactive exhibition programming.
Window Rock, Arizona. Noting that an earlier proposal had
When Truth Met Reconciliation
there was going to be this more accurate story.”
By the end of 2015, with enough funding to move forward with one of two different conceptual exhibition designs, the
Conflict mediator and consultant Tammy Boorman, who
Patrick Moore, the team went back to the drawing board. This time, as many people as possible took a seat at the table. Over what Roth describes as a yearlong series of collaborative sessions, a new plan took shape. Among the tribal participants was Manuelito Wheeler (Navajo/Diné), director of the Navajo Nation Museum in centered the Fort Sumner story on “the pioneer experience,” he says that, gradually, he came to realize that the newly proposed exhibition was going in the right direction. “I was definitely skeptical in the beginning,” Wheeler says. “As we progressed, I really felt more enthusiastic. Finally,
was sent by the International Sites of Conscience to facilitate
Above left: Manuelito Wheeler (Navajo/Diné), director of the Navajo Nation Museum. Photo courtesy Manuelito Wheeler. Above right: Detail of a mural in the new exhibition at Bosque Redondo, based on a 2102 painting, The Long Walk, by Shonto Begay (Navajo/ Diné). Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
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discussions in both 2007 and 2017, says the 2017 meetings were all about “learning on an interpersonal level.” “To have folks coming together around the table in different power dynamics—the state, senior tribal leaders, historians, external experts like historical research associates, interpretive planners—the group had to be very intentional,” she says. “That made a difference the second time around.” Boorman recalls the particularly powerful moments when tribal partners welcomed the participants to Bosque Redondo, Window Rock and the Mescalero Apache Reservation, among other locales. “In Navajo cosmology, returning to the land of trauma, to visit a memorial that is literally built on the bones of your ancestors, is not something you do very easily,” she says. “Apart from the work we were doing, there was a tremendous amount of spiritual and emotional energy when we were on-site.”
visiting the site as well,” Wheeler continues. “A significant number of the visitors to the Bosque Redondo Memorial are Native people. Navajo people are still feeling a pull to visit Fort Sumner. Some of it may be for healing on their own, to understand that trauma. Other people are wanting to visit to gather strength because we as Navajo people, a lot of us are direct descendants of people who were held prisoner at Fort Sumner. Because of our ancestors’ strength, we’re here today. Visiting the site is a spiritual way to gather that strength and honor our people.” Amid the sea of collaborators, a few individuals stand out. Roth singles out Holly Houghton (Mescalero Apache), Historic Preservation Officer for the Mescalero Apache tribe, as instrumental in the communication process. “Holly has been with the project since the nineties. I know that, even from her perspective, it was a little disheartening how long it took,” Roth says.
Wheeler explains the situation from a tribal perspective. “There are varying versions of how Fort Sumner should be approached. The more known Navajo belief is that Fort Sumner should never be visited and never discussed. In terms of a psychological reason behind that, of course that was such a horrific point in Navajo and American history. There’s a reason not to want to revisit that.
Cortese cites the 2006 death of Bosque Redondo Memorial advocate John McMillan. He met with Navajo leaders about the site as early as 1995, as an incentive to push forward.
“But there’s plenty of Navajo people who are still traditional, but through prayer and ceremony and respect, are okay with
When COVID-related closures delayed the long-anticipated opening of the exhibition by more than a year, Roth and
“Even from his hospital bed, he was giving instructions,” she recalls. “He said, ‘No doesn’t mean no, it just means maybe.’”
After the Pandemic, a New Chapter Unfolds
Above left: Navajo girls at Fort Sumner, Bosque Redondo era, New Mexico, 1864-1868(?). Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, negative number 038208. Above right: Exterior entrance to the Bosque Redondo Memorial. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
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Cortese saw an opportunity. The exhibition was nearing completion, but something was still missing. According to Roth, the exhibition wasn’t ending in just the right way.
Cortese adds, “Had any of the other designs gone through, they wouldn’t have been correct. This is exactly what should have happened.”
“You’ve come through the entire experience, you’ve learned about life after the signing of this treaty, and then you’re fed back through the rotunda. It didn’t really bookend the experience,” he says.
“It’s been a whole lot of fits and starts,” says Dodge. “But that’s understandable. I’m just glad it’s finally here.”
The final touch is the newly added “decompression room,” a space where visitors can sit and reflect on the enormity of what they have just learned. “It’s a heavy burden when you come out of the exhibition,” Roth says. “Even when we had panels and it wasn’t interactive, people would come out of that space crying or with lots of questions. There needed to be something deeper. It’s a space to ponder, to consider what you’ve been through, to have a discussion with your family or the rangers.” Project partners and exhibition designers embraced the new space. Half of the room is dedicated to six other International Sites of Conscience partners—global sites with similar histories of wrongful incarceration or atrocities committed on Indigenous peoples. As the exhibition is unveiled this fall, so many who shepherded the project believe the delays occurred for a reason. “Every pause gave us a chance to redevelop and improve things,” Roth says.
“From an exhibit standpoint, that whole place has been transformed,” says Wheeler. “You’re going to be seeing a whole new museum there. There are state-of-the-art interactives. It’s a top-tier museum experience. The emotional punch is absolutely there, as it should be, because it is such a powerful point in Navajo and American history.” For Baca, the Bosque Redondo project ls a powerful beginning of a new chapter for New Mexico Historic Sites. “I hope that this opening enhances the advocacy and the interest in historic sites,” Baca says. “A lot of New Mexicans, unless they live where there is one, they just have no idea what happened there.”
To support the New Mexico Historic Sites, contact Yvonne Montoya at Yvonne@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.1592.
Bosque Redondo A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival Public Opening: October 8–10, 2021 Where: Fort Sumner Historic Site/Bosque Redondo Memorial 3647 Billy the Kid Drive, Fort Sumner, NM 88119 Information: 575.355.2537 Visit: nmhistoricsites.org/bosque-redondo
Above left: Exhibition display from Bosque Redondo: A Place of Suffering, A Place of Survival. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
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Reading Summer
Literacy Program Takes the Museum to the Tribes
Learn About Corn, Measure A Buffalo
When San Felipe Pueblo Education/Library Manager Tracey Charlie was facing a pandemic year with no public feast days or gatherings, she worried about a loss of community connections.
Museum Activity Kits
But this summer, a grant to tribal libraries filled the emptiness at San Felipe with a series of vibrant, out-of-the-box cultural literacy programs.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture offers an array of fun activities inspired by nature and various aspects of tribal life.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Tribal Libraries Summer Reading Program kicked off in 2015. The program has thrived, thanks in part to support from The Ludwig and Nancy Sternberger Charitable Foundation.
One fun activity (which may also be challenging for adults) involves identifying the different parts of a full-sized corn plant. Can you find the ear, leaf, brace roots, silk, soil level, tassel, nodal roots and stalk? Kids might also try their hand at an activity centered on the buffalo. Using a measuring tape, measure out the height of a buffalo—6 feet and 5 inches—on the floor and mark it. Now see who comes closest to the correct height. Students can also research the two types of buffalo. What are their similarities and differences? What are four uses the Apache tribes have for the buffalo? Find these and more activities and lesson plans at: museumfoundation.org/education Activity kits for all Museum of New Mexico divisions are generously sponsored by $10,000 in private gifts through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The funds help create specialized activities for thousands of schoolchildren across New Mexico.
The project’s original goal was to support literacy and resource development at Acoma, Cochiti, Jemez, Laguna, Ohkay Owingeh, San Ildefonso, Sandia, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo, Tesuque and Zuni Pueblos. “It was originally organized to bring students to the museum to visit exhibits and engage in interactive workshops on culture and history,” says museum deputy director Matthew Martinez. “2020 presented a challenge where we were not able to host students and book school groups. We were able to redirect the Sternberger money in creative ways to develop outreach and curriculum and literacy projects for tribal libraries on-site.” Instead of bringing students to the museum, the museum went to the pueblos. A Zoom lecture series focused on Native writers featured Navajo children’s book author Daniel W. Vandever and Dr. Debbie Reese, a Nambé Pueblo scholar and founder of American Indians in Children’s Literature. “Reese is very good about working with teachers to understand context and bring attention to stereotypes in popular mainstream writings,” Martinez says. Working with Red Planet Books in Albuquerque, the museum generated a list of Native-authored books broken down into three educational categories: K-3rd grade, upper elementary and high school. “That list has been very valuable,” Martinez says. “We received about 200 books, divided and shared with tribal libraries, to continue this theme of literacy and community engagement.” At San Felipe, Charlie devised another way to use grant funds to bolster the isolated students. Working with the museum, she created four cultural activity kits (see sidebar) for families to pick up from the library. These included a traditional Pueblo embroidery kit with supplies and instructions imparted via Zoom, as well as cooking kits for students to learn to make red and blue corn tortillas, feast day pies and cookies. “We really wanted to provide the sense of community teaching and togetherness that happens during special times like feast,” says Charlie.
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For another activity, San Felipe artist Michael Tenorio realized his longtime dream of creating a coloring book about what it means to be a San Felipe tribal member. The coloring book has been a hit, with a community signing and two separate distributions. The response to the kits was “tremendous,” Charlie says. “Grandma would get involved, Grandpa, aunties, uncles and so on. It was fun to hear the little remarks when they’d come to get the next kit. During this pandemic, it was a lot of quiet time for most tribes, but this has brought a sense of
“We would love to see it continue in some form throughout the year,” he says. “I think books are a good way to start. There’s a vast body of work by Native authors. A lot of those authors are really open to talking to students.” That prospect opens the door to future private funding opportunities for author stipends and books. Support will also continue to be needed for more cultural actvity kits, even in a post-pandemic world. “We want to see what other communities come up with, given the resources,” Martinez says.
normalcy and lifted spirits.” For Martinez, the feat of stretching the summer reading program into an entire year of educational programming has been inspiring.
To support the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, contact Lauren Paige at Lauren@museumfoundation.org or 505.982.2282.
Above: Cover of a coloring book by San Felipe artist Michael Tenorio, distributed through the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Tribal Libraries Summer Reading Program. Photo courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
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The Bilingual Connection Museum Broadens Dual Language Outreach
Draw Your Favorite Ghost A Museum Activity Kit Orihon are accordion-style books, composed of a continuous folded sheet of paper enclosed between two covers. Compared to scrolls, accordion books are more practical and allow enough space for writing in a compact form. To make an accordion book and draw your favorite Yokai ghost, monster or demon, you’ll need: • 2 chalk pastels • Blank paper for covers (5.5” x 8.5”) • 2 paper strips for scroll (5.5” x 17”) • 2 cardboard pieces (5” x 7”) • A shallow tub • Popsicle stick or plastic knife • Scissors, ruler and glue stick
For Kemely Gomez, the Museum of International Folk Art’s bilingual educator, outreach begins with representation. “It’s so important just to be able to say to students, ‘I speak Spanish. I am from Guatemala,’” she says. Gomez, who has been with the Folk Art Museum since 2018, says that the educational programs she conducts with students in Santa Fe schools and libraries—as well as for kids and adults at Gerard’s House (a local center for grieving families)—begin with an open door and an invitation for participants to be themselves. “We live in a state where Spanish is almost a second language. It’s so important that we support a bilingual environment for families,” Gomez says. A museum environment can be intimidating, she adds, for people who did not grow up visiting such institutions. “Every space should feel like an inviting space where you can share both English and Spanish, because that’s who you are.” When Gomez began conducting folk art workshops at Santa Fe’s Southside Public Library, she was simply trying to connect the bilingual community to a place that houses many of the Spanish-speaking world’s cultural treasures.
Find directions and other online activities at: museumfoundation.org/education Activity kits for all Museum of New Mexico divisions are generously sponsored by $10,000 in private gifts through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The funds help create specialized activities for thousands of schoolchildren across New Mexico.
Museum of International Folk Art Bilingual Educator Kemely Gomez. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
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She brought books, art objects and projects to after-school programs at the library. The multigenerational outreach quickly proved successful, with over 120 families regularly attending summer programs. Gomez began to see many attendees at subsequent museum events. “That was wonderful,” she says. To help negotiate the trauma that many Gerard’s House families face (separations at the border, kidnappings and detentions), Gomez says she deliberately seeks activities that “help them connect to the culture and tell their stories.” A recent Tree of Life project, in which adults constructed people and events in their lives from clay, was “kind of like an automatic open door. They talk about the theme, and we use it as a tool for sharing harder things.” During an ongoing partnership with El Camino Real Academy, a bilingual PreK-8 Community School in Santa Fe, Gomez says that appearing in students’ classrooms speaking both English and Spanish is “an aha moment where students feel connected and comfortable. It’s meaningful.” Leslie Fagre, the museum’s director of education, says that, with an 80 percent minority student population in Santa Fe
Public Schools, “to have somebody who is a role model, who has the experience of immigrating here, is so valuable.” The bilingual education program is just one way the museum is looking to fulfill the American Alliance of Museums’ initiatives of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion. A new priority is making all label texts for exhibitions bilingual, as well as providing lesson plans in English and Spanish. Fall outreach plans include multiple visits to classrooms by educators, with a final project exhibited at the museum for a family and student reception. After a year of remote learning, says Fagre, “We’re really putting our outreach focus on the schools now.” The museum has already expanded its local purview with summer programs in Española, Las Vegas and Pecos, and activity kit (see sidebar) distribution to points further north. For the museum’s fall education programs, Fagre notes that immediate private funding is needed for buses, art supplies and exhibition installation, as well as reception costs and honoraria for folk artists who donate their teaching time. To support the Museum of International Folk Art, contact Laura Sullivan at Laura@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0829.
A selection of bilingual books in English and Spanish, part of the educational programs of the Museum of International Folk Art. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
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Poetic Justice
Lessons in Art, Poetry and Time
Look In The Mirror
When the events of summer 2020 kicked off a period of activism that recalled the civil rights and feminist movements of the 1960s, New Mexico Museum of Art Curator of Contemporary Art Merry Scully got to thinking.
A Museum Activity Kit
She had three artists on her mind: Judith F. Baca, Mildred Howard and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
Activity kits inspired by women artists have been developed by the New Mexico Museum of Art.
All three women had come of age during these movements. Over decades, in paintings, installations, film and monumental works, each artist addressed difficult issues on both global and local levels—civil rights, housing, land use and the environment, to name just a few. In their works, Scully saw lessons for newer generations.
A self-portrait by artist Beatrice Wood, for example, encourages students to make their own self portrait at home. Materials needed: • Mirror • White paper (8.5” x 11”) • Pencil eraser • Colored pencils • Watercolors
“They were telling stories and histories that were often considered on the periphery, and because of the subject matter and their gender, they were often marginalized,” says Scully. She knew their works and struggles needed to be recognized and contextualized today. Thus was born Poetic Justice, a three-person exhibition on display at the Museum of Art from October 9, 2021, through March 27, 2022.
To learn about Beatrice Wood and find instructions on how to draw a selfportrait, visit: museumfoundation.org/education Activity kits for all Museum of New Mexico divisions are generously sponsored by $10,000 in private gifts through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The funds help create specialized activities for thousands of schoolchildren across New Mexico.
Jaune Quick-To-See Smith (Citizen of Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, MT), Indian Head Nickel, 1994. Mixed media on canvas, 72 x 72 in. Heard Museum Collection. © Courtesy of the artist and the Garth Greenan Gallery. Photo by Craig Smith.
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“These three innovative artists have for decades been creating complex works of beauty that evoke memory, history and emotion,” Scully writes of the exhibition. “The exquisite prose of their visual storytelling draws attention to non-dominant perspectives.”
keeping with what the museum has been doing for the last few years in terms of trying to broaden how we contextualize work being made in the West and Southwest. It’s something we’ve been highly conscious of, that interest in the social and cultural context of artwork.”
That prosaic quality led Scully to envision another component of Poetic Justice: the possibility of a writerly lens on such moving visual art. She enlisted the participation of three New Mexico poets, each one of whom embraces social justice in their art: New Mexico Poet Laureate Levi Romero, former Albuquerque Poet Laureate Hakim Bellamy, and Santa Fe writer and visual artist Edie Tsong. Each poet is contributing a work reflecting on either a part or whole of Poetic Justice, rounding out the multimedia experience.
Scully adds that the exhibition is highly anticipated for its commission of two new works. Baca is creating a paleta cart entitled Build a Wall, while Howard is building an installation, The Now of Time and Space, that sums up several running themes in Poetic Justice.
Continuing the outreach initiative, a public symposium on Saturday, October 16, will bring together all three artists, who each will give a presentation and participate in a roundtable discussion. The panel will also incorporate the poetic responses, either through a recording or live readings. Scully says Poetic Justice continues a recent thread of intentionality in the Museum of Art’s curation. “I think it’s in
Of course, as Scully points out, “We are so happy to be able to commission these projects as it provides money to help realize an artwork.” Private contributions to the Museum of Art Exhibitions Development Fund through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation have supported Poetic Justice programming, including technological equipment for mounting the exhibition and broadcasting the October 16 symposium. To support the New Mexico Museum of Art, contact Kristin Graham at Kristin@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0826.
Judith F. Baca, Farewell to Rosie the Riveter, in situ, detail from the 1950s section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles, painted summer 1983, acrylic on concrete. Courtesy of Judith F. Baca
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Walking the Talk Retooled History Tours Dive Deeper into Santa Fe’s Past After pandemic closures turned the Santa Fe Plaza into a temporary ghost
I’ve Been Working On The Railroad A Museum Activity Kit Test your eyes—and refresh your railroad lingo with an online word search offered by the New Mexico History Museum. This activity kit was created in conjunction with the History Museum exhibition Working on the Railroad, on view to October 18, 2021.
town in 2020, the Friends of History optimistically focused on what wasn’t there: groups of people. While New Mexicans stayed home, the steering committee for this membership support group of the New Mexico History Museum turned its attention to revamping its public tours of downtown Santa Fe. The Historic Downtown Walking Tours, offered daily by Friends of History guides, has long been a steady source of revenue for the History Museum. Successful tours often led participants to purchase an additional museum ticket. But the tours needed streamlining. The goal, according to Friends of History Chair Michael Ettema, was to produce a “uniformly high-quality tour” despite any differences in indi-
Find directions and other online activities at:
vidual docent guides’ styles and delivery of information.
museumfoundation.org/education
certain historical touchstones in the city’s downtown and re-evaluating what
Activity kits for all Museum of New Mexico divisions are generously sponsored by $10,000 in private gifts through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The funds help create specialized activities for thousands of schoolchildren across New Mexico.
The group literally rewrote its training manual. Now, after reconsidering visitors want from a tour experience, Ettema says, “We think we have a really good new tour put together. It’s general in nature, but also goes a little more deeply into topics that are critical to the history of Santa Fe.”
Spiegelberg Building, East San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, New Mexico, ca. 1890s. Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, negative number 035869.
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On the new two-hour tour, a building is not just an edifice— it’s a portal to historical figures, trends and events. “Buildings are time capsules, an embodiment of personal dreams, available technology and cultural norms,” says New Mexico History Museum Executive Director Billy Garrett. “Each is connected to a specific location and date, while also shaping the character of its surroundings over time.” On one of the tour’s first stops, Ettema points out the Spiegelberg Building across the Plaza from the Palace of the Governors, using it to describe the scale of historical trade networks that supported 19th-century Jewish merchants. A quick jaunt over to 109 East Palace opens up the story of the mid-20th-century Manhattan Project and the instrumental role Dorothy McKibbin played in gatekeeping one of the biggest secrets of all time. A few more steps down Palace Avenue, Sena Plaza opens visitors’ eyes to old Santa Fe from a sociological and architectural point of view rooted in the Spanish Colonial period. Finally, a stop in Cathedral Park offers a chance to discuss the many modern institutions bolstered by 19th-century Catholic Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy’s work in New Mexico. The tour addresses issues of class, inequity and historical myths. Winding its way down Old Santa Fe Trail to San Miguel Mission and the “Oldest” House, it debunks certain
claims about both, and covers the erasure of the Barrio de Analco by the encroachment of state government buildings. “Unfortunately, Santa Fe is not laid out in chronological order,” says Ettema, “so we have to go back and forth a little bit. Then we haul them back to the History Museum to buy a ticket for admission.” While public in-person tours were on hold during the pandemic, virtual Zoom tours took up some of the slack, underscoring the appeal of technology for some history buffs. The Friends are also introducing a new self-guided tour app for those visitors who prefer to fly solo. In-person tours are scheduled through October. For times and prices, visit friendsofhistorynm.org/walking-tours/. For his part, Garrett does not underestimate the power of the retooled tour. “The Downtown Walking Tours offer an opportunity to see beyond the present to better understand other New Mexicans, the forces that have shaped our state and the ties we have with the rest of the world,” he says. To join Friends of History, call 505.982.6366 ext. 100 or email membership@museumfoundation.org. To support the New Mexico History Museum, contact Yvonne Montoya at Yvonne@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.1592.
Dorothy McKibbin, 109 East Palace, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1940-1960. Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, negative number 030187.
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Garden of Time
Learning from the Landscape It’s a hot and blustery summer day outside the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, where Office of Archaeological Studies ethnobotanist and educator Mollie Toll is showing off recent developments at the Walk Through Time Garden. “I would like to encourage people to embrace the idea that landscaping is not just something to look at,” says Toll. “It’s something to learn from.” As sheets of dust blow in from the Jemez Mountains, it’s easy to slip into the reality of ancient New Mexicans who stubbornly coaxed life out of the dry, rocky desert. The garden is slowly taking shape in chronological order around the vast archaeology complex, providing visitors with a glimpse of plant use at every phase of New Mexico history. Toll walks through the Hunter/Gatherer section, currently the most developed portion of the project. Close to 40 different trees and plants of historic and cultural significance surround the building, including various types of yucca, three-leaf sumac, cottonwood and cholla. Each is identified by small signs installed last winter with the common and scientific names of each plant and its uses. Toll says plants for the garden have been obtained in a variety of ways, including salvage from construction sites where they would otherwise be destroyed. Over the years, Lynette Etsitty (Diné), an archaeologist with the Office of Archaeological Studies, carefully tended several of the sumac plants to produce shoots for use in traditional coiled basketry demonstrations and workshops. “It’s interesting when you talk to kids about how people used plants and animals in the past,” says Toll. “One of the things they’re really interested in is how they got their clothes. A whole lot of that is yucca, because it can be processed to be a soft and fine fiber for textiles.” The Hunter/Gatherer section (which also features Apache plume, purslane and prickly pear) gives way to Early Farmers (sunflower, squash, beans), and then to Pueblo Farmers, where the team will grow beeweed, cotton and gourds.
Toll points to the proposed site for the Spanish Colonial Garden Orchard as the most ambitious. It will require the planting of plum, apple and cherry trees, as well as the construction of an acequia irrigation system. Other sections will include medicinal, dye and pollinator plants. Looking over the relatively small progress on the elaborate garden plan, Toll is practical about the project’s needs, which will require both private funding and volunteers to fulfill. “You wouldn’t trust a library without a librarian, and a garden can’t survive without a gardener,” she says.
“We’re able to give people a sense of these broad sweeps of time.” Toll estimates the proposed grounds to be nearly 15,000 square feet, noting that most grants are designed for much smaller projects. “It would be fabulous to have some time devoted by one person who is watching over the whole project and coordinating volunteers, giving at least five hours a week,” she says. For now, the project is taking baby steps, with plans for plant-based demonstrations on-site at the center during International Archaeology Day on Saturday, October 16. The public’s enjoyment of the Walk Through Time Garden is “woven into our mission,” Toll says, which is aimed at reminding New Mexicans and visitors that the plants around them have hidden values and important roles in the history of New Mexico. “The garden being so big in such a dramatic setting, I think we’re able to give people a sense of these broad sweeps of time,” Toll continues. “From here, you can really get a sense of what the New Mexico landscape is and was.” To support the Office of Archaeological Studies, contact Lauren Paige at Lauren@museumfoundation.org or 505.982.2282.
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Top left: Mollie Toll, Office of Archaeological Studies ethnobotanist and educator. Top right: The terraced garden area of the Walk Through Time Garden at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology. Photos by Saro Calewarts. Bottom left and right: The three-leaf sumac or lemonade berry can be harvested for both a delicious beverage and basketry material. Its light colored underbark surface can be dyed for multi-colored basketry designs. Photos by Saro Calewarts.
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Site-Specific Educational Pavilion to Enhance On-Site Learning “We’re all people who love to talk to people,” says Matthew Barbour, manager of Coronado Historic Site. He’s talking, in general, about the Coronado staff’s excitement at reopening to visitors last spring. In the same breath, he mentions plans for the site’s new education pavilion, which will offer more opportunities for staff and docents to engage in person with school groups, families and other visitors.
an educational pavilion possible. The gift honors the memory of his late wife Diane Marie Schuler, who volunteered as a Coronado docent and researcher. Barbour says Schuler was a great champion of education who read to children at Algodones Elementary School every week, in addition to her work at Coronado. “We felt this was a very strong project to honor her.” According to a rough draft of the site interpretive plan— which was devised in collaboration with tribal stakeholders, support groups and researchers—the pavilion’s location will be determined by site flow and archaeological considerations. These will be factored into the design by MWRM Landscape Architects of Albuquerque. The space will accommodate lectures, dance and musical performances, and demonstrations with new technology. Construction is anticipated to begin later this year. “The interpretive plan identifies where we want to move the site forward as far as presentations and public education, but also gives us quite a few ideas of bigger projects we can do on-site,” Barbour says. Specifically, he notes the need for a new welcome area, Native American gardens, information kiosks and expansions to interpretive trails. “We’d love to do a lot more,” he adds. For now, however, Barbour is basking in the pleasure of in-person visitors.
“One of the services we provide to our communities is educational,” Barbour continues. “Our visitor center, which was built in 1939 and designed by John Gaw Meem, is a great space. But it’s just inadequate for dealing with large groups.” A generous donation from Craig Gibbs, who made the gift through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, has made
“COVID has taught us to engage more with the public in a digital environment, and that’s absolutely wonderful,” he says. “However, fundamentally, the most important thing about New Mexico Historic Sites is the ability to experience history where it happened.” To support the New Mexico Historic Sites, contact Yvonne Montoya at Yvonne@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.1592.
Above: A kiva ladder opens onto the landscape at Coronado Historic Site, where a new educational pavilion will provide more space for public programs. Photo courtesy New Mexico Historic Sites.
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CORPORATE PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Vivác Winery Cultivating Local Flavor Since the easing of the pandemic, many members of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation have reported what they missed most about normal life during the shutdown. Number one on the list? A nice glass of wine at an exhibition opening reception. That’s one of many reasons why the connection between Vivác Winery and the Foundation makes perfect sense. A member since 2019, the Dixon winery is a Corporate Partner at the $5,000 level. Brothers Chris and Jesse Padberg were born and raised on an apple farm in Dixon. They began learning the craft of winemaking in the late 1990s, securing the Vivác Winery license in 1998. By the time they opened their first tasting room in
Vivác focuses its attention on supporting causes, ideas,
2003, the operation had become a true family affair. Chris’
cultural institutions and crops that belong to New Mexico.
wife Liliana, who hails from Aguascalientes, Mexico, and
“Because we were born and raised here, a lot of what we
Jesse’s wife Michele, who grew up in Taos, are co-owners
want to do is connect with other companies that are high-
and sommeliers.
lighting what New Mexico can do,” says Padberg.
According to Michele Padberg, the shared ethos between
Vivác has more than proven its New Mexico moxie, repeat-
the Foundation and Vivác is a marriage of true minds. Both
edly winning international wine competitions and causing
organizations value the metaphorical idea of terroir, or the
renowned Wine Spectator critic James Suckling to remark
natural characteristics and flavors a natural environment
that Vivác’s refosco is “excellent and on the same level as the
imparts to a wine. In the Foundation’s case, says Padberg, its
best of Friuli.”
passion for elevating and showcasing homegrown New Mexican culture is its own terroir.
“This state has its own personality. We try to incorporate that into our wines, and hopefully that reflects in what you taste,”
“So many museums are focused on the marketing of their
says Padberg. “When we have an opportunity to partner
space, and not as much about what they’re showing,” she
with someone like the Foundation, it’s such a wonderful
says. “But the Foundation is facilitating the backdrop for
reflection of all of that history.”
putting something forward, and each museum show is so beautifully unique and curated. That’s how we handle our wines as well, as part of a meal, part of an experience.”
For information on becoming a Corporate Partner, contact Mariann Lovato at Mariann@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0849.
Above: Launched in Dixon in 1998, the award-winning Vivác winery is a family affair. Photo courtesy Vivác Winery.
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LICENSING PROGRAM
Crossroads Collection
Celebrating the Mixing and Melding of Cultural Traditions and International Styles Partnering with the San Francisco-based home décor, furniture and lighting company, Selamat Designs, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation Licensing Program is proud to announce the launch of the Crossroads Collection. The husband-and-wife team that leads Selamat Designs is dedicated to creating beautiful home décor products rooted in historical design traditions and made using sustainable, eco-friendly practices. That each of them grew up close to nature is reflected in their choice of natural materials and the general relaxed aesthetic of the company’s products. These principles informed the design of the Crossroads Collection, which draws on the artistic traditions of the world’s cultures and is translated for the modern consumer.
The collection’s eclectic and layered look reflects how people live today, bringing together pieces of diverse origins and character to create a welcoming and relaxed home. Taking design inspiration from objects, furniture and textiles in the collections of the Museum of International Folk Art and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Crossroads Collection will launch with a four-piece bedroom set, a desk, armoire, and several lamps and pieces of framed art. More products will be added to the collection over time. “We are thrilled about our partnership with Selamat and look forward to seeing the museum-inspired objects interpreted into new materials,” says Pamela Kelly, the Foundation’s vice president of licensing and brand management. Selamat Creative Director Shannon Davis lauded the opportunity to learn about the “distinctive communities of the Pueblo, Navajo (Diné) and Apache cultures of the Southwest” through the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture collections. In working with the Museum of International Folk Art collections, she added, “Our team simply marveled at the diversity and artistry of the world’s folk artists and cultures.” A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of the Crossroads Collection will return to both museums to fund exhibitions, education and acquisitions. The collection is expected to be available for purchase in Santa Fe this fall.
For licensing information, contact Pamela Kelly at Pamela@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0614. Home décor goods from the Crossroads Collection. Photo courtesy Selamat Designs.
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Ways to Give Membership
Education Funds
Support the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s efforts to deliver essential services to our 13 partner cultural institutions while offering enjoyable member benefits.
Fund museum education and public outreach programs at our four museums, eight historic sites and the Office of Archaeological Studies.
The Circles
Exhibition Development Fund
Participate in a series of exclusive events while providing leadership-level support.
Support exhibitions, related programming and institutional advancement at the division of your choice.
Circles Explorers
Planned Gift
Support and explore the art, culture and history of New Mexico through active and adventurous cultural excursions and 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
Endowment
Support the museums through your business and receive recognition and member benefits for your business, clients and employees.
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.
Annual Fund
Special Campaigns
Provide critical operating support for the Museum of New Mexico Foundation to fulfill its mission on behalf of our 13 partner cultural institutions.
Give to special campaign initiatives designed to fund a range of capital expansions and programming advances throughout the Museum of New Mexico system. For more information, visit museumfoundation.org/give.
MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION
Staff
DEVELOPMENT Kristin Graham
MEMBERSHIP AND COMMUNICATIONS
505.216.1199 Kristin@museumfoundation.org
Saro Calewarts 505.216.0617 Saro@museumfoundation.org
New Mexico Museum of Art
Yvonne Montoya
SHOPS
Lauren Paige
Cara O’Brien 505.216.0848 Cara@museumfoundation.org
Sara Birmingham 505.216.0725 Sara@museumfoundation.org
505.982.2282 Lauren@museumfoundation.org
Brittny Wood 505.216.0837 Brittny@museumfoundation.org
Kylie Strijek 505.216.0651 Kylie@museumfoundation.org
FINANCE
James Wood 505.216.3137 James@museumfoundation.org
505.216.1592 Yvonne@museumfoundation.org
Laura Sullivan
Museum of International Folk Art
EXECUTIVE OFFICE
Sachiko Hunter-Rivers 505.216.1663 Sachiko@museumfoundation.org
Mariann Lovato 505.216.0849 Mariann@museumfoundation.org
New Mexico History Museum New Mexico Historic Sites
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Office of Archaeological Studies For a full Foundation staff list, visit: museumfoundation.org/staff
Georgine Flores 505.216.1651 Georgine@museumfoundation.org
505.216.0829 Laura@museumfoundation.org
Jamie Clements Jamie@museumfoundation.org
GRANTS
Eduardo Corrales 505.216.1606 Eduardo@museumfoundation.org
Francesca Moradi 505.216.0826 Francesca@museumfoundation.org
Peggy Hermann 505.216.0839 Peggy@museumfoundation.org
Tammie Crowley 505.216.1619 Tammie@museumfoundation.org
LICENSING Pamela Kelly 505.216.0614 Pamela@museumfoundation.org
The Community of Folk Art at the Museum of International Folk Art Shop Vibrant, cultural and imaginative arts and crafts are the backbone of many communities around the world. Folk Art can be traditional or modern and often reflects the shared community social issues of a society. The shop at the Museum of International Folk Art offers a wide variety of artwork and treasures that delight both children and adults.
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
shopmuseum.org
