Vital Community Collaboration The museum is again partnering with the Santa Fe Opera for “Tech and the West.” This series of exhibition-related programs culminates in a July 13–14 museum symposium. Guest speakers include Richard Rhodes, Hugh Gusterson, Rachel Bronson, James Nolan and Meridel Rubenstein. “After the first joint symposium in 2016, we were delighted to discover that we had a whole new audience,” says Andrea Fellows Walters, Santa Fe Opera director of education and community programs. “We anticipated overlap between opera and museum goers. What we didn’t anticipate was that people who hadn’t found either of our institutions would come out for this programming.” The opera debuts Dr. Atomic as part of its 2018 season, an opera set in the days before the first atomic bomb test at Trinity Site. “It’s an opera about New Mexico that has never been presented in New Mexico, “says Fellows Walters. “We are in a time where people are still questioning this delicate subject. That is why this collaboration is so vital.” LaBorwit agrees. “It’s important that the museum plays a role in helping people understand the history of technology, especially in New Mexico,” she says. For information about how to support community programs at the New Mexico History Museum, contact Yvonne Montoya at 505.982.6366 ext. 102 or Yvonne@museumfoundation.org.
Top: Meridel Rubenstein, The Meeting, 1993, mixed media. Photo © Robert Reck. Above: Meridel Rubenstein, Oppenheimer’s Chair, 1995, mixed media. Photo © Robert Reck.
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