The Institute for American Indian Arts (IAIA) is currently celebrating its 60th birthday, and the companion museum is concurrently celebrating its 50th birthday. IAIA started in 1962 on the grounds of the Santa Fe Indian School as an undergraduate program for Native American students interested in the arts. Today, IAIA occupies a state-of-the-art campus on … Read More
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It is with a very, very heavy heart that I write this special edition of the Newsletter. A wonderful man, and an incredibly talented jeweler, Albert Lee, has passed away. Albert was born in 1980, making him a very young 41 years old. He passed away on the evening of April 12 in his hometown … Read More
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In March, we had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Joy Harjo, the first Native American Poet Laureate. The presentation was offered by the New Mexico Museum of Art on a lovely Wednesday evening at the Museum’s historic Saint Francis Auditorium. We both love poetry, and were quite intrigued by the opportunity to hear … Read More
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When we think of sculptures, particularly public works of art, we immediately think of large, imposing pieces of stone, metal, or wood. These are meant for public display, and are meant to convey messages or stories about the subject at hand. However, for the most part, these large sculptures don’t fit in our homes, so … Read More
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2,766 total views, 1 views today
Happy New Year, my dear friends and family! May you be blessed during the year with good tidings and joy! In mid-December, I had the opportunity to take a behind-the-scenes construction tour of the new exhibit area in the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe. This exhibit, which is about five … Read More
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As I write this, we have just finished our Thanksgiving dinner celebration and our attention is now turning to the traditional Holiday season. Thanksgiving is a uniquely American celebration, starting with the Native American tribes saving a starving colony of European immigrants. It has evolved into a time when we give thanks for the abundance … Read More
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When tourists travel through the Santa Fe area, one stop is often to see the cliff dwellings at Bandelier National Monument. Run by the US Park Service, the cliff dwellings offer striking evidence of human habitation in the area going back over 11,000 years. These dwellings were created by the Ancestral Puebloans, the forefathers of … Read More
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In the news, we often see stories of volcanic eruptions along the Pacific Ocean “Ring of Fire,” or in areas like the Big Island of Hawaii or Iceland, where active volcanoes continue to bring fiery magma to the surface and devastate the surrounding land. We don’t often hear about volcanoes in the American Southwest, as … Read More
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Glass blowing is not a particularly new art form. In fact, historians can trace the origin of modern glass blowing back two thousand years or more, starting in the Middle East and throughout the Mediterranean civilizations. Even earlier, glass beads were created almost 5000 years ago on the subcontinent of India. There are two main … Read More
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The State of New Mexico has a somewhat unusual State flag, in that it consists solely of a yellow background with the Zia sun symbol on it. I can’t think of another State that has only a single Native American symbol adorning its flag. The history of this symbol goes back many thousands of years, … Read More
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For the past seventeen years, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (MIAC) in Santa Fe has hosted an Indian Market called Native Treasures. Each year, they select a prominent Native American artist as a Living Treasure, and honor that person with an individual exhibit. In normal years, a small group of outstanding Native American … Read More
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A few weeks ago, Michael and I loaded Tanner the fluffy puppy into our SUV and headed down to the Santa Fe Plaza for a hoop dancing exhibition. The group, headed by eminent Hopi jeweler Steve LaRance and his son Cree LaRance, agreed to a performance for tourists and locals alike. The dancers were learning … Read More
For the past two months, we have had the opportunity to showcase the tremendous talent of Navajo painter David K. John with an exhibition on our website. Because of this exhibition, and the resulting media coverage it has received, David has received a lot of highly supportive feedback regarding his work. Your feedback has sparked … Read More
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At the end of the 19th century, railroad expansion throughout the Southwest brought quite a few tourists to the New Mexico area. Those tourists found exciting new cultures in the pueblos and tribes that lived in the area, and often stopped to chat, take photographs, and purchase souvenirs. Enterprising Native American artists took note of … Read More
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