Here are some of our favorite photos from the trip (each photo is a thumbnail linked to a higher quality picture.):
1) Museum Of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - We had a full day to ourselves so we turned it into a museum marathon. Our first stop was Museum Hill which is home to four different art museums, plus Santa Fe's Botanic Garden. It was too warm to be out in a garden but was perfect for visiting air conditioned museums. Our first stop was a return visit to the Museum of International Folk Art. We had visited it last year but enjoyed having a repeat visit.
2) Museum Of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - In addition to the fabulous folk art that makes up the general collection the museum also hosts special exhibits. They had a continuing show on Mexican paper-mache art which we saw last year but also had two new exhibits. One was a "Staff Favorites" room with items from storage that was curated by the staff of the museum. The second special exhibit was folk art made in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, much of which was made from expended ammunication cartridges. There was also a photo exhibit with photographs of all the public art throughout Ukraine which has had to be wrapped to protect it from damage. Very powerful stuff!
3) Museum Of Indian Arts And Culture, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - Our next stop was the Museum of Indian Arts And Culture. The permanent collection in the museum was updated a few years ago and the items on display now span from historical artifacts to contemporary pieces but all curated by Native Americans. The idea is to tell a story developed by Native Americans rather than about Native Americans. It was interesting and we enjoyed walking through the spacious museum and seeing the items on display.
4) Spanish Colonial Arts Society's Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - This interesting museum focuses on art made in New Mexico spanning from the late 16th century when the first Spanish explorers arrived through to contemporary artists in the state. The collection is modest and because it covers such a large time period it isn't necessary cohesive but there were definitely some interesting pieces, particularly those in the "The Ugly History Of Beautiful Things" exhibit. This exhibit paired contemporary pieces with historic items from the museums collection allowing the artists to comment on aspects of these earlier pieces.
5) Spanish Colonial Arts Society's Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - The special exhibit was a collection of custom bicycles created by a young people in the Española Lowrider Bike Club. This group was formed to create a safe space where teenagers interested in latino culture could funnel their interest and talent into making unique pieces of art in the form of low-rider bicycles. The program thus provided mentorship, fabrication skills and a safe environment - all valuable resources for the youth involved - and the result of this were some very cool bikes.
6) Wheelwright Museum Of The American Indian, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - The final museum we visited on Museum Hill was the Wheelwright. This museum focuses primarily on contemporary Diné and had a special exhibit on the artist Marcus Amerman on display. This was perhaps our favorite art of the four museums we visited on Museum Hill. Marcus Amerman's work spans a wide range of techniques from incredible bead work to painting to photography. Much of the work on display leaned heavily into social commentary and also included collaborations with other native artists offering poignant critiques of how Native Americans have been represented in American popular culture.
7) Vladem Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - After taking a mid-day break to avoid the hottest part of the afternoon we headed back out in the early evening to see some art museums that were near our hotel in the Santa Fe Railyard. The Vladem Contemporary is a new extension of the New Mexico Museum of Art which just opened this year in a massive new building in the Railyard. We headed there first and were wow'ed by the sheer size of the place but were ultimately disappointed in the place. The collection of art on display was much smaller than the huge building would suggest. There were two pieces which used technology (an "Augmented Reality" piece and a virtual reality piece) but neither were working. ...And, finally, the way things are named was downright ridiculous: Every room, stairwell, bench, closet, and doorway seemed to have someone's name over it. It was so over done that we found it comical. There were a few pieces of art I enjoyed but my advice is to skip it and hope the directors give the place a re-think.
8) Art Vault, Santa Fe, NM, July 10, 2024 - Just down the street from the Vladem is the much smaller Art Vault. The whole space maybe contained a couple of dozen pieces of art but it was all very interesting. Many of the pieces on display utilize technology (and it was all working!). The space was big enough to space out the artwork but not so large that it felt under-utilized. There was a small upstairs loft area that had just a few pieces and a spacious video room with a large projection screen. I really liked both the space and the art.
9) Bandelier National Monument, White Rock, NM, July 11, 2024 - We also had the morning of our second day in Santa Fe free so we decided to make the drive out to Bandelier National Monument so we could get a little exercise. Bandelier National Monument protects a large area of canyon and mesa landscapes just northwest of Santa Fe. The highlight of the park is Frijoles Canyon which is lined with Ancestral Puebloan sites including the Long House and the Alcove House. Access into the park is restricted so we had to leave our car at the White Rock Visitor center and take a shuttle bus into the Visitor Center. From there we did the Pueblo and Alcove House loop trails stopping along the way to see the cliff dwellings. We only had a couple of hours so it was a quick trip but we enjoyed getting to spend some time out in nature and getting to see the archeological sites in the park.
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