Cover: Wilford S. Conrow, Eugenie Shonnard Sculptor, 1930. Oil on canvas, 33½ x 30 in. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art, gift of Eugenie F. Shonnard Estate, 1978. Courtesy New Mexico Museum of Art.
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.
We serve 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
MEMBER NEWS CONTRIBUTORS
Mariann Lovato, Managing Editor
Carmella Padilla, Writer and Editor
Steve Cantrell, Writer
Jennifer Levin, Writer
Saro Calewarts, Designer
MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION STAFF
View full staff list at museumfoundation.org/staff
• Office of Archaeological Studies
Dear Members,
In this issue of Member News, we explore the legacy of Eugenie Shonnard, the world-renowned sculptor who made Santa Fe her home. Her house and studio on the outskirts of downtown are now part of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s beautiful campus, where her artwork populates the buildings and grounds. Her 1978 legacy gift supports all four Santa Fe museums as well as our eight historic sites statewide and Office of Archaeological Studies. Get to know Shonnard’s stunning creative contributions in the first posthumous exhibition of her work, Eugenie Shonnard: Breaking the Mold, on view March 8 at the New Mexico Museum of Art’s downtown Plaza Building.
We also bring you a wealth of information about how the Foundation’s cultural partners support both promising artists and New Mexico schoolchildren. An exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, Engaging the Future: The Goodman Fellowship Artists, showcases the impressive talents who have received the Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship since it was established in 2016. Beginning in 2007, students visiting the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner Historic Site have been reacting visually to the difficult story of Diné and Ndé internment by the United States military during the late 19th century. Thousands of students have drawn their feelings about their site experience on tiles, which are now featured there in a monumental tile mural.
You’ll also learn how educators at the Museum of International Folk Art engaged in community outreach throughout the state to innovate strategies for teachers and students viewing Between the Lines: Prison Art & Advocacy. And you’ll meet the Office of Archaeological Studies’ first-ever, full-time educator, who has established an experiential pilot program at a Santa Fe charter school, is making plans for an outdoor classroom at OAS, and more. Collaboration has been key to two other exciting initiatives. Foundation support fueled a new documentary about the state’s food history. Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico debuted in February and brings the New Mexico History Museum's Forks in the Road: A Diner’s Guide to New Mexico exhibition to life. Finally, in an exciting collaboration with The Vilcek Foundation and the Bates College Museum of Art, the New Mexico Museum of Art highlights another New Mexico modernist in Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts at its downtown Plaza Building.
Thank you for your donations and dedication to our cultural partners. Their support of learners of all ages is made possible by your generosity.
Sincerely,
Jamie Clements President/CEO
Thank you for your donations and dedication to our cultural partners. —Jamie Clements
Leaders in Strategic Planning
Edelma Huntley and Sabrina Pratt, Museum of New Mexico Foundation trustees and Strategic Planning Committee co-chairs, have shown exceptional leadership in shaping the three-year strategic plan. Set to guide the organization from 2025 to 2028, the plan aims to enhance efficiency and fundraising effectiveness for the Foundation’s 13 cultural partners while advancing our mission.
Huntley’s distinguished career in higher education includes roles as English professor, graduate dean, and chief research officer. Her experience includes strategic planning in the university setting, organizational change for emerging graduate schools, program development in professional science master’s degrees, and work on other national initiatives in graduate degree programs.
Pratt brings over 30 years of experience in arts administration, philanthropy, economic development and cultural policy to the task. Her expertise spans strategic planning, program evaluation and helping artists to develop sustainable practices.
“Together, Pratt and Huntley’s dedication and expertise have been instrumental in crafting a comprehensive strategic plan that ensures the Foundation’s continued vitality and success,” says Jamie Clements, Foundation president and CEO. “We are immensely grateful.”
Board of Trustees 2024–2025
OFFICERS
Michael Knight, Chair
Nancy Baker, Vice Chair
Dan Monroe, Vice Chair
John Macukas, Treasurer
Edelma Huntley, Secretary
VOTING TRUSTEES
Allan Affeldt
Cathy Allen
David Arment
Nimish Bhatt
Caroline Burnett
Elaine Cole
Joe Colvin
Diane Domenici
Greg Dove
John Duncan
Kirk Ellis
Deborah Fritz
Carmen Gonzales
J. Scott Hall
Pat Hall
Marilyn Harris
Susie Herman
Ruth Hogan
Peggy Hubbard
Robert Jones
Bruce Larsen
Christine McDermott
Dee Ann McIntyre
Kate Moss
Patty Newman
Michael Ogg, M.D.
Dennis A. O’Toole, Ph.D.
Sara Otto
Sabrina Pratt
Michael Reid
Natalie Rivera
Wilson Scanlan
Frieda Simons
Courtney Finch Taylor
Margo Thoma
Elmer Torres
Laura Widmar
Madeleine Wright
Sandy Zane
ADVISORY TRUSTEES
Victoria Addison
Keith K. Anderson
Cynthia Bolene
Julia Catron
Stockton Colt
Jim Davis
Gwenn Djupedal
Maria Gale
Carlos Garcia
Leroy Garcia
Stephen Hochberg
Rae Hoffacker
Barbara Hoover
Kent F. Jacobs, M.D.
David Matthews
Helene Singer Merrin
Beverly Morris
Mark Naylor
Jane O’Toole
Michael Pettit
Judy Sherman
J. Edd Stepp
Robert Vladem
Nancy Meem Wirth
Claire Woodcock
David Young
HONORARY TRUSTEES
Anne Bingaman
William Butler
Jim Duncan Jr.
John Marion
Eileen A. Wells
TRUSTEES EMERITI
Saul Cohen
Rosalind Doherty
Bud Hamilton
Jerry Richardson
James Snead
Top: Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chairs Edelma Huntley, left, and Sabrina Pratt. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
Eugenie Shonnard was a highly respected sculptor in her day, known for whimsical animal figures, Southwestern religious iconography and respectful depictions of Indigenous peoples. In an era when women artists usually entered commercial fields like lacemaking and wallpaper design, Shonnard followed her own vision. She exhibited her work in Paris, New York City and Santa Fe before moving permanently to the City Different in 1927, when she was in her early forties.
Shonnard spent the bulk of her life in a rambling historic adobe home and studio on Paseo de Peralta. Originally built in 1890 for Nuestra Lucero de Kirchner, the wife of a local merchant, the Italianate Style hipped-roof cottage was constructed by Philip Hesch, a Canadian who settled in Santa Fe in 1876 and became a noted local contractor. When Shonnard died—in 1978, at a wizened 91 years of age—she left her property, artwork, papers and correspondence to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
“She knew that by giving her entire estate to us, we would do right by her,” says Jamie Clements, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “We donated her artwork and archives to the New Mexico Museum of Art, where she would want them to be. And we retained the property that would ultimately become the Foundation’s campus. Today, her estate supports the entire Museum of New Mexico system.”
Creating a Campus
The Foundation took up residence on the Shonnard property in 2019 after outgrowing its offices in the Hewett House on Lincoln Avenue. A realtor who leased the Shonnard House from the Foundation for 30 years had given it an award-winning restoration. With a fresh coat of paint, the building was ready for occupancy.
Today, Clements works in a spacious corner office that was once Shonnard’s kitchen, while members of the Foundation’s development team share the string of offices that line a central hallway. Santa Fe architect Beverley Spears added a triangular, one-story building to the campus. Named for Thomas B. Catron III, who established the Foundation in 1962, it houses finance, operations and Museum Shops staff. Shonnard’s art studio— which she converted from a barn—became the Bob Nurock Conference
Previous page: Eugenie Shonnard with preliminary sculpture of bust of Alphonse Mucha in her New York Studio, 1921. Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, Neg. No. 030692.
Below: A water fountain featuring ducks created by Eugenie Shonnard is highlighted at Shonnard’s former home, now home to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
“One of her crusades was the power and importance of public art, particularly empowering sculptors to work with architects to incorporate that kind of material into buildings and into the lived environment.”
Center, honoring a trustee who died in 2017 and whose generous bequest supported its construction.
Foundation staff interact with Shonnard’s life’s work every day. Her animal figures are affixed to a wall inside the Catron building, and one of her sculptures of St. Francis stands in the hall. Ducks decorate the garden fountain, and a Stonehenge-like assortment of broken pottery outside the conference center pays homage to the kiln that exploded when Shonnard was inventing her own sculptural, cement-like material.
“It was called Keenstone,” says Christian Waguespack, former head of curatorial affairs and curator of 20th century art at the New Mexico Museum of Art. “When she was in her seventies, this technical innovation allowed her to maintain her independence because it was lightweight, and she could move it by herself.”
Despite being a pivotal figure in the 20th-century history of Southwestern art and architecture, Shonnard has fallen out of the public eye in recent decades. To revive her legacy, the New Mexico Museum of Art opened the first posthumous exhibition of her work, Eugenie Shonnard: Breaking the Mold, on March 8. The show is on view at the museum’s downtown Plaza Building through August 24.
Ahead of Her Time
Shonnard was born in 1886 in Yonkers, New York, descended from a storied New England family that included a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Although her pedigree surely gave her a measure of social status, Waguespack says her artistic success was largely a result of talent, drive and serendipitous timing.
Below left: Eugenie Shonnard, Untitled (Native American Man), n.d. Wood, 23½ x 7 x 8 in. Tia Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico. James Hart Photography.
Below right: Eugenie Shonnard in garden with bird, fish and squirrel sculptures, Santa Fe, New Mexico, ca. 1954. Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, Neg. No. HP.1978.31.008.
“She met Alphonse Mucha at the New York School of Applied Design, and that relationship opened doors for her that wouldn’t necessarily have been open otherwise, and certainly not to women artists,” he says. “A lot of her career developed in the face of other people telling her no.”
Unsatisfied with design’s repetitive nature, Shonnard explored drawing and painting, and eventually gravitated to sculpture. She and her mother moved to Paris after her father died, where she studied with Auguste Rodin and Antoine Bourdelle at Académie de la Grande Chaumière. She moved to
Santa Fe after Edgar Lee Hewett offered her studio space at the then decadeold Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico (today’s Museum of Art). Her mother came, too, and by the early 1930s Shonnard was married—although not much is known about her husband, the entrepreneur Edward Gordon Ludlam.
“I know more about her relationships with animals,” Waguespack says. “Her parrot spoke Spanish. And she had a horse, named Peggy, that she rode all over Santa Fe. Peggy used to knock on the studio door with her hoof when Shonnard was working.”
Shonnard was known for incorporating sculpture into architecture, as she did in creating the La Conquistadora altar screen for Santa Fe’s Rosario Chapel. She also crafted the decorative tiles and sculptural altarpieces for the Taylor Memorial Chapel in Colorado Springs, a church designed by John Gaw Meem in 1929. Among her other well-known commissions were a 1939 wooden relief depicting Native peoples and cattle for the post office in Waco, Texas, and a fountain for the Carrie Tingley Hospital at Hot Springs, New Mexico, today known as Truth or Consequences. She created several pieces for the Works Progress Administration, which dovetailed with her passion for public art.
“One of her crusades was the power and importance of public art, particularly empowering sculptors to work with architects to incorporate that kind of material into buildings and into the lived environment,” Waguespack says. “She invented Keenstone in part so that it wouldn’t put too much weight on the walls.”
Beloved Benefactor
Although Shonnard hoped other sculptors would embrace Keenstone, Waguespack doesn’t know of another artist who ever used the material. “But she wanted it available. She never patented it,” he says.
With the opening of the Foundation campus, and now, the museum exhibition, Clements says people have begun inquiring about its ingredients. Unfortunately, “the recipe seems to have been lost to time,” he says, standing in the garden next to the Shonnard House. The landscaped oasis with a central fountain is the site of numerous Foundation receptions, including donor parties and the annual staff appreciation event for the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
The garden was named for the Cowden family, relatives of former Foundation board chair Michael Pettit, who made the first gift to the capital campaign that raised $1 million for the campus renovation. The garden borders the backside of the Nurock Conference Center, where barn doors that were once the entry to Shonnard’s studio still stand. They’re painted turquoise blue, and if you look closely, you can see the gentle indentations that Peggy the horse made with her hoof when summoning her faithful rider.
“When Ms. Shonnard came here in the 1920s, she became very integrated into the art community. She was very highly regarded, but she’s not wellknown today,” Clements says. “She’s an under-recognized artist—and a beloved benefactor of the Museum of New Mexico system. It’s important for the Foundation and the New Mexico Museum of Art to recognize who she was as a living artist, and to honor her incredible support of us.”
“Her parrot spoke Spanish. And she had a horse, named Peggy, that she rode all over Santa Fe. Peggy used to knock on the studio door with her hoof when Shonnard was working.”
Opposite: Today, Eugenie Shonnard's home, studio and property host the offices of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
Photo by Saro Calewarts.
Below: Eugenie Shonnard, Untitled (Bird on Cactus Candle Holder), ca. 1950. Glazed ceramic, 13 x 10½ x 3 1/8 in. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art, gift of Eugenie F. Shonnard Estate, 1978. Courtesy New Mexico Museum of Art.
See the Exhibition
Eugenie Shonnard: Breaking the Mold
March 8—August 24, 2025
New Mexico Museum of Art, Downtown Plaza Building
Visit museumfoundation.org/events for related programming.
Visionary Giving
Eugenie Shonnard’s gift of real estate to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation was wonderfully welcome but somewhat unusual, says Foundation President and CEO Jamie Clements. Such gifts are typically designated for a specific museum, and unless the museum has a particular use for it, the property is sold. “The proceeds go into that museum’s account here, and they’ll draw from that account to support their programs,” he says.
For instance, before his death in 2013, Dr. Don E. Pierce designated a planned gift via the Foundation. The gift provided a portion of his estimated $1.7 million estate—including both property and art—to establish an endowment fund and a capital fund shared by the Office of Archaeological Studies and the Conservation Department of the Museum Resources Division. Pierce, a former pathologist, retired in Santa Fe and for 20 years volunteered in the OAS research labs. He was also a member of the Foundation and Friends of Archaeology.
The Foundation used the proceeds from the Pierce property and art collection sale to create two funds that now support research, equipment purchases and maintenance for OAS laboratories. The endowment generates significant annual revenue to support the work of the radiocarbon dating, ethnobotany, archaeomagnetic dating and osteology labs.
“Without Pierce, our labs would not exist at the capacity that they do,” says Shelby Jones, OAS laboratory supervisor.
Clements adds, “Legacy gifts help secure the future of the Foundation and Museum of New Mexico system and can often be game changers for our institutional partners.”
A Catalyst for Innovation
The Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship
“I consider myself blessed by your generosity,” Noah Pajarito (Santo Domingo) told Malcolm and Connie Goodman in 2022, when he was awarded the Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
The Goodmans established the fellowship in 2016 to support emerging artists who show promise at an early stage of their career. The funds provided to Pajarito enabled him to upgrade his jewelry-making equipment.
As passionate collectors of Native art, the Houston residents and longhorn cattle ranchers have forged deep connections with artists since first attending Santa Fe Indian Market in 1996. As Malcolm Goodman explains, “Building friendships with the artists and their families adds another dimension to collecting.”
To date, 19 talented artists have received the Goodman fellowship. Their work is showcased in Engaging the Future: The Goodman Fellowship Artists, now on view through Labor Day weekend in the museum’s JoAnn and Bob Balzer Native Market and Contemporary Art Gallery. “Connie and I hope this exhibition inspires the next generation of collectors and fosters a sense of community among these talented artists,” Goodman says.
“We’re excited to present this groundbreaking exhibition featuring a diverse range of media, including film,” says Elisa Phelps, the museum’s head of curatorial affairs. The show is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Friends of MIAC Exhibition Endowment Fund, established by Bill and Uschi Butler.
The Goodman fellowship is a crucial step for emerging Native artists, often serving as their first major breakthrough. It has led to significant opportunities, awards and recognition from peers and collectors. For example, the fellowship’s 2016 and 2019 recipients, prominent printmaker Terran Last Gun (Piikani) and mixed-media artist Mikayla Patton (Oglala Lakota), both achieved significant recognition in 2022 as two of Southwest Contemporary’s influential “12 Artists to Know Now.” Patton also received a prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship. And the museum’s groundbreaking exhibition, Horizons: Weaving Between the Lines with Diné Textiles, which closed in February, was co-curated by 2022 Goodman Fellow and photographer Rapheal Begay (Diné).
Additionally, 2023 Goodman Fellow and filmmaker Ethan Nopah (Diné) has received several awards and recognition for his artistic promise. He was named the Institute of American Indian Arts’ Student of the Year and also was awarded a “Proven Storyteller” scholarship from the George R.R. Martin Literary Foundation for a screenplay. Nopah credits the fellowship with
To support the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, contact Lauren Paige at 505.982.2282 or lauren@museumfoundation.org.
Opposite: Abraham Peina (Zuni Pueblo) received the 2021–2022 Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship. Photo courtesy Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
Opposite right: Children participating in a Museum of Indian Arts and Culture educational program. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
Museum of New Mexico Foundation Trustee Emeritus Bud Hamilton (left) with Connie and Malcolm Goodman at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
providing him the resources to “upgrade my equipment and establish myself in the film industry.”
“The Goodman fellowship is a catalyst for innovation in Native art,” says Danyelle Means, the museum’s executive director. “We see this in artists like Adrian Standing Elk Pinnecoose (Navajo/Southern Ute), pushing the boundaries of jewelry design using computer-generated software, and Jontay Kahm (Plains Cree), whose unconventional use of materials has earned him recognition as an ‘Indigenous fashion designer to know’ by Vogue magazine.”
Now an accomplished jeweler, Noah Pajarito appreciates that the fellowship “recognizes the importance of keeping traditional Native art alive.” He learned his craft from his father, master jeweler and 2023 MIAC Living Treasure Anthony Lovato (Kewa/Santo Domingo Pueblo), whose work was recently celebrated in the museum exhibition Down Home: Anthony Lovato
For the Goodmans, the Engaging the Future exhibition is at once an affirmation of their support and a hope for additional support from others. “After seeing the incredible work on view by these emerging artists, we hope the Goodman fellowship will galvanize additional support for Native artists, inspiring others to contribute to the museum through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation,” Goodman says.
Outstanding Outreach
With the generous support of private donors via the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, education and outreach programs at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture continue to thrive.
In 2024, the museum welcomed over 1,300 students from Santa Fe Public schools, 12 tribal schools and the Santa Clara Senior Care Center, while nearly 700 adults joined in gallery tours.
In 2025, the museum will offer three types of guided tours for both students and adults. These explore exhibitions such as Here, Now and Always through the lens of Native storytelling, pottery and weaving traditions. Such popular programs as Sunday Funday, Storytime with an Educator and Let’s Take a Look will engage audiences of all ages.
The Native Narratives speaker series, funded by the Gale Family Foundation (supported by Ed and Maria Gale), will feature artists from the Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship exhibition (see page 8).
For a full schedule of 2025 events, visit indianartsandculture.org/calendar.
Promoting Change
Prison Art As Self-Expression
For longtime Museum of International Folk Art supporter Jill Heppenheimer, exhibitions like Between the Lines: Prison Art & Advocacy, which addresses modern-day social issues, amplifies marginalized voices and inspires visitors to advocate for change, are especially appealing.
“I fully support social justice initiatives that promote positive change through the transformative power of art,” says Heppenheimer, an entrepreneurial strategist, creative consultant and owner of TOKo Santa Fe, which provided funding for Between the Lines
On view through September 2 in the museum’s Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, exhibition themes were shaped over several years through community input and youth engagement. In 2013, Between the Lines co-curator Patricia Sigala, the museum's community outreach and engagement specialist, launched a Folk Art to Go outreach initiative at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Albuquerque. Subsequent collaborations with Santa Fe YouthWorks, the Coalition for Prisoners’ Rights and others deepened community engagement. Students from Santa Fe Preparatory School, the Academy for Technology and the Classics, and Capital High School also participated in exhibition-inspired poetry and painting workshops.
“Along with the Folk Art to Go hands-on art making activities, and poetry/pañoworkshops with Albuquerque poet Hakim Bellamy and Metropolitan Detention Center inmates, this outreach was formative and anchored the development of the exhibition,” Sigala says.
In January 2025, five months before the exhibition’s opening, more than 30 local teachers attended a museum in-service session where exhibition themes, programming and potential classroom applications were explored. Formerly incarcerated artist John Paul Granillo shared his experiences and facilitated a conversation with teachers in the dialogue lounge in the Between the Lines gallery. “For incarcerated people, art is their only voice,” Granillo says.
Even more opportunities for public education and engagement have unfolded since the exhibition’s launch in August. An exhibition tour and brainstorming session with Sigala and exhibition co-curator Chloe Accardi, the museum’s media specialist, led to an exciting collaboration with Moving Arts Española, whose founder and creative director Roger Montoya is a former Museum of New Mexico Foundation trustee and a member of the Museum of International Folk Art Advancement Committee.
To support the Museum of International Folk Art, contact Laura Sullivan at 505 216.0829 or laura@museumfoundation.org.
Understanding that today’s youth interact with visual media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, Montoya engaged his Española nonprofit in partnering on a student-designed digital media project.
Videography offers a unique platform for Montoya's students to explore their emotions and connect with peers, which is especially beneficial for youth struggling with verbal expression. Participants connected deeply with the New Mexican lowrider art depicted on the paños on display in the exhibition. These intricate ballpoint pen or colored pencil drawings on fabric are a common form of expression among Chicano inmates, reflecting their resourcefulness in working with limited materials.
“The exhibition catalyzed a profound understanding for these young interns,” says Montoya. “They are discovering how and why incarceration and isolation can lead to severe trauma—fertile ground for healing through the creative process. Art is medicine.”
The project will culminate this spring, when the museum hosts a public student video showcase and moderated discussion. Selected videos will be featured on the exhibition’s “Community Empowerment iPad,” and potentially, in an upcoming online/offline exhibition currently in development, which will be accessible to prison libraries and classrooms. Museum educators are also looking ahead to another exhibition-related program at the museum: the 3rd Annual Prison, Poetry and Families event takes place on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15, at 1 p.m.
The creative outlets and community connections represented in Between the Lines have resonated with Foundation donors, including Heppenheimer and Alan Cogen of the Cielo Foundation Boulder.
“We supported the prison art project because we liked how it was helping prisoners to have a genuine voice for self-expression,” says Cogen.
Heppenheimer adds, “Prison art reflects our society and has cultural impact from those incarcerated on the rest of us. It is a call-out to our communities that those imprisoned are self-reflective, intent on positive change and meaning.”
Additional major support for Between the Lines has been generously provided by the Friends of Folk Art, International Folk Art Foundation, Frost Foundation, Lewis & Dilworth Family Fund, and Elaine and Harvey Daniels.
Fun at the Folk Art Flea
Mark your calendars! The Friends of Folk Art’s blockbuster Folk Art Flea returns Saturday, June 7, to the Santa Fe County Fairgrounds. An array of global folk and fine art items, donated by major collectors, folk art lovers, travelers and local businesses, is ready to find a new home—yours—at a range of incredibly reasonable prices.
The Friends’ most important fundraising event, the Flea has raised over $1 million since its inception in 2010, benefiting the museum’s award-winning educational programs and world-class exhibitions.
Admission is free but Friends of Folk Art enjoy early bird shopping, just one of many benefits offered. Not yet a Friend? Go to museumfoundation.org/FOFA or call 505.216.1773.
You can also contribute to the success of the 2025 Flea. Donate items for sale during drop-off days at the museum on April 5, April 26 and May 10, or call 505.476.1201 to schedule a drop-off or pick-up. Better yet, become a sponsor by contacting Laura Sullivan at laura@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0829.
Marsden Hartley, the self-proclaimed “painter of Maine,” was a restless spirit whose art was deeply influenced by his extensive travels. His journeys to Paris, Berlin, New York and New Mexico served as touchstones in his artistic development, shaping his unique style and perspective.
From April 5 through July 25, the New Mexico Museum of Art presents Marsden Hartley: Adventurer in the Arts at its downtown Plaza Building. Curated by The Vilcek Foundation in collaboration with the Bates College Museum of Art, the exhibition explores the life and work of the renowned American modernist, showcasing over 40 paintings and drawings. Exhibition highlights include Schiff, a rarely seen masterpiece created by the artist in Germany and showing only for the second time in the U.S. Three important works from the Museum of Art collection, as well as a selection of the artist’s personal effects, offer a deeper glimpse into his life and wanderlust.
From his early years in Maine to his travels across Europe and the American Southwest, Hartley’s artistic journey was marked by constant exploration and innovation. His attendance at Gertrude Stein’s Parisian salons was foundational to the development of his singular style. The geometric forms, two-dimensionality and organic colors in his paintings of New Mexico came from his introduction to works by Picasso, Cézanne and Matisse.
In 1918, a year after the opening of Santa Fe’s new museum (today’s New Mexico Museum of Art), Hartley received an invitation to Taos from visionary arts patron Mabel Dodge Luhan, beginning a significant chapter in his artistic journey. He was soon also drawn to Santa Fe, where the museum’s open door policy created a place for artists to make and show their work. Grateful for this opportunity, many artists generously donated their pieces to the fledgling museum, forming the foundation of its modernist collection.
Marsden Hartley, Schiff, 1915. Oil on canvas with painted frame. The Jan T. and Marica Vilcek Collection, promised gift to The Vilcek Foundation.
Hartley’s iconic El Santo (1919), on view in the exhibition, was a gift from the artist, who lived and worked in Taos for a time after his arrival in 1918. This masterpiece references New Mexico’s rich and complex cultural history, depicting Spanish conquerors, Indigenous people and a symbol of resilience, the yucca, New Mexico’s official state flower. Two other works by Hartley from the museum’s collection will also be on view, Still Life (1922) and New Mexico Recollections (1922-1923).
“New Mexico’s artistic direction has been profoundly influenced by American modernists like Hartley—it’s distinctly made in New Mexico,” says Christian Waguespack, former head of curatorial affairs and curator of 20th century art. “Their groundbreaking work changed the direction of art in New Mexico and forms the heart of our 20th-century collection.”
To support the New Mexico Museum of Art, contact Asya G. Beardsley at 505.216.1199 or asya@museumfoundation.org.
Dedication to Education
“It’s incredible!” exclaimed Sarah Zurick, educator and volunteer coordinator at the New Mexico Museum of Art, after being named Museum Education Art Educator of the Year by the New Mexico Art Education Association in November.
This prestigious award recognizes educators who demonstrate exceptional practices and contributions to museum education. It is one of six annual awards given to educators working in various settings.
“It’s an honor to see Sarah recognized by her peers,” says Mark White, the museum’s executive director. “She engages the museum’s diverse audiences through outreach programs, public gallery programs and work with docents and volunteers.”
While many newcomer artists had romanticized the Southwest, 20th-century modernists like Hartley took a very different approach, inspired in a radical new direction by New Mexico’s landscape, architecture and culture. “I am an American discovering America,” he wrote in a 1918 article in El Palacio, where he became a frequent and influential contributor. “It will not satisfy the intelligent eye to paint a lone mesa like an inflated haystack of Monet. The sense of form in New Mexico is for me one of the profoundest, most original and most beautiful I have personally experienced.”
Hartley’s significance as one of America’s most renowned modern artists is confirmed by the museum’s exhibition partners. Through its art collections and other initiatives, The Vilcek Foundation of New York honors significant contributions to the U.S. The Bates College Museum of Art is home to the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection.
Closer to home, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation is looking to raise private funding for public programs and educational outreach related to the exhibition. “Since most of these offerings are free, we rely upon private support through the Foundation to continue offering the highquality programs the museum is known for,” says Chris Nail, the museum’s head of education.
Chris Nail, the museum’s head of education, adds, “Sarah makes people feel comfortable exploring art.”
Zurick, who previously spent 12 years as an educator at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, attributes her success to a passion for art and a dedication to helping others connect with the museum’s singular collections.
Left to right: Marsden Hartley, Randall Davey and John Sloan in the courtyard of the Palace of the Governors. Courtesy Palace of the Governors Photo Archives, Neg. No. 014232.
Sarah Zurich, 2024 Museum Education Art Educator of the Year. Photo courtesy New Mexico Museum of Art.
A Taste of New Mexico Foundation Collaborates
on New Documentary
New Mexico is a land of rich traditions and complicated history. Its people include Indigenous communities that have lived here for thousands of years as well as Hispano, Anglo and other families that came later. They, as well as hundreds of thousands of tourists, contribute to the state’s economy by visiting our museums and restaurants.
If one thing unites everyone across New Mexico’s diverse populations, it’s the signature cuisine—beans, chile, freshly pressed corn and flour tortillas, and more—that’s lovingly cooked by grandmothers and professional chefs alike. “We’re not Mexican food and we’re not Tex Mex. We have our own identity,” says Zac Cornfield, the director of the documentary Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico.
The hour-long film was produced by DocuFilms, an Emmy Awardwinning Santa Fe nonprofit that helps charitable organizations grow their donor and volunteer bases via filmmaking. In this case, the group collaborated on and co-funded the film in partnership with the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. The partnership is in support of the three-year food heritage exhibition series at the New Mexico History Museum, which began in fall 2024 with Forks in the Road: A Diner’s Guide to New Mexico.
“This film is storytelling at its best,” says Jamie Clements, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “It weaves together unique perspectives and narratives to enlighten us on the culture and history of New Mexico’s food heritage.”
Cornfield and DocuFilms co-founder Michael Campbell spent the summer of 2024 interviewing and gathering footage of small farmers and ranchers, chefs, restaurant owners and activists who combat food insecurity throughout the state. Narrated by New Mexico State Historian Rob Martinez, the documentary starts its story before European contact but relies on contemporary voices and imagery rather than archival footage.
“I wanted the film to have a cinematic feel, to convey the way you can see the New Mexico horizon for miles,” Campbell says.
Cornfield adds, “I wanted to tell the story of New Mexican food through New Mexican people. The best documentaries are about people.”
Perhaps the most essential images in this food film are the steaming plates of tamales, carne adovada and chunky salsa that you can almost taste through the screen. Navajo tacos laden with ground beef, lettuce and tomatoes. Deep-fried empanadas that Sephardic Jews make for Hanukkah. The official state question—Red or Green?—gets plenty of attention as well.
Matt Romero of Romero Farms is featured in Eating History. Film still courtesy Eating History
Chile Culture
As guest curator of the three-year food heritage exhibition series at the New Mexico History Museum, Chef Johnny Vee is sharing his take on some of the state’s fave foods, including this red chile recipe.
Chef Johnny Vee’s Red Chile
Makes approx. 2 ¾ cups
Ingredients:
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/4 cup mild ground red chile
• 1/4 cup hot ground red chile
In addition to partnering with DocuFilms, Eating History presented a unique opportunity for the Foundation to engage with several other local nonprofits, including Cooking with Kids and Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute. Spokespeople from these organizations convey not only the complexity of the state’s food heritage but how what grows here gets to people’s tables, and how important culinary cultural traditions are passed on.
“We’re looking at what’s on the plates of New Mexicans today, how it’s evolved over time,” says Michael Knight, chair of the Foundation’s board of trustees. “How has it been impacted by conquerors, traders and immigrants? Sometimes there are difficult political and social situations, but food connects us.”
Eating History premiered on New Mexico PBS in February and is available on its streaming platforms. Portions of the documentary have also been incorporated into Forks in the Road at the History Museum, where visitors can join the spirited conversation about chile preferences. Cornfield, who grew up in Albuquerque, favors red chile over green, though he’ll take green chile over no chile any day.
“We’re getting feedback that the documentary makes people excited to come here and try all the dishes they learned about,” Cornfield says. “But we’re also getting feedback that it’s making people proud to be New Mexican.”
• 2-3/4 cups stock (vegetable, chicken or beef)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1. Melt butter in heavy saucepan over low heat
2. Add flour and mix well, allow to brown slightly
3. Remove from heat and stir in ground chiles
4. Return to heat and blend in garlic, spices and stock
5. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes and season with salt
Fresh New Mexico tamales as featured in the food heritage film Eating History. Film still courtesy Eating History.
Right: New Mexico green chiles. Film still courtesy Eating History.
Mosaic of Memory
Building Bosque Redondo’s Tile Mural
Among New Mexico’s eight historic sites, a visit to the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner—where more than 9,500 Diné (Navajo) and some 500 Ndé (Mescalero Apache) people were forcibly removed and interned in the 1860s—may be the most moving for visitors.
“Interactive exhibits and interpretive displays are designed to encourage reflection and deeper understanding of the Navajo and Mescalero Apache’s experience,” explains site manager Aaron Roth.
One especially powerful installation, a striking outdoor tile mural called Reactions to Hweeldi (place of suffering), invites visitors to contemplate and express the enduring impact of the site’s tragic history. Since 2007, young visitors to the site have worked to create this monumental work of reflection, comprised of 1,276 handmade tiles and measuring 12 feet high by 63 feet long. A $60,000 special appropriation by the New Mexico State Legislature in 2023 made possible its current state of completion.
Mary Ann Cortese, president of the Friends of the Bosque Redondo Memorial, spearheaded the student tile project. “This began as an opportunity to allow visiting students to express their experience at Bosque Redondo after touring the site,” says Cortese. “We realized many young people could not articulate, in words, the feelings that the story of the site brought forth. However, each one could draw a symbol or phrase that would allow them to be heard. The tile project continues to provide a permanent space that allows ownership, even in a small way, that their opinions matter.”
Sunset aerial view of the Bosque Redondo Memorial and visitor center at Fort Sumner Historic Site. Courtesy New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Opposite left: Reactions to Hweeldi (place of suffering), a monumental tile mural made by student visitors to the Bosque Redondo Memorial. Courtesy New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Inspired by a guided reflection exercise led by site staff or trained volunteers, students translate their emotions and reactions to the history into drawings, symbols or written messages on blank ceramic tiles. The tiles are then glazed for outdoor preservation and installation.
“For these students, the tile project is both a way to express their feelings and contribute to a lasting memorial,” says Roth. “It doesn’t matter the student’s age. They understand that what happened at Bosque Redondo was wrong.”
Since the tile project’s inception, a total of more than 3,000 unique ceramic tiles have been created. Bosque Redondo staff and the Friends group hope to continue this program and to install the remaining 1,500 tiles around the site. In order to do so, private support is needed through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
Private funding is also being sought to support the development of another similar initiative, which seeks to illuminate site visitors’ emotions as they grapple with the difficult history of Bosque Redondo.
“One of the most telling aspects of the visitor experience are the written reflections they leave in the decompression space,” Roth says. This space, located at the exhibition’s end, invites visitors to reflect in an area with couches, coffee, tea and a library. While some people discuss their thoughts and feelings with family or a ranger, others wish to write about them. Roth envisions “using these writings to create a future exhibition, given the necessary funding.”
Cherished Navajo-Churros
New Mexico’s rich wool-related history, which is closely tied to Fort Sumner and Los Luceros historic sites, began with the introduction of resilient Churra Sheep by Spanish colonists in the 16th century.
During the 1860s, Diné captives brought their Navajo-Churro Sheep to Bosque Redondo, where they were interned by the U.S. Government. The sheep were essential to the survival of the Diné there, providing sustenance and warmth.
Today, the Friends of the Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner continue this legacy, caring for a flock of Navajo-Churro Sheep they own at the site. Each year, between 20 and 30 sheep are donated to Diné families in New Mexico and Arizona. Over 180 sheep have been given to families in the past decade.
Visitors to Fort Sumner’s Annual Fiber Fair on Saturday, May 3, will learn about this prized resource, including wool processing, from shearing to spinning.
Navajo-Churro Sheep will also be celebrated at Los Luceros’ annual Spring Shearing Day on April 6. The first Spanish Churras arrived there around 1703, and sheep continue to play an important agricultural role in the area.
Right: A Navajo-Churro sheep strikes a pose at Bosque Redondo Memorial. Courtesy New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Beyond the Classroom
New OAS Staffer Aims for New Audiences
In August, the Office of Archaeological Studies hired Ziggy Prothro as its first-ever, full-time instructional coordinator, thanks to funding approved by the New Mexico State Legislature during its 2024 session. With this hire, says OAS executive director John Taylor-Montoya, “OAS can better accomplish its central mission to provide statewide educational outreach.”
In her new role, Prothro hopes to integrate her archaeological knowledge into engaging learning experiences. “OAS’s well-deserved strong educational focus drew me to this new position,” she says. “I’m looking forward to expanding programming to underserved audiences throughout New Mexico.”
Prothro’s passion for public outreach took root while volunteering in schools as she worked on a graduate thesis integrating archaeology into education at the University of Texas at Austin. That led to experience in cultural resource management and as a public school teacher.
Now a little more than six months on the job, Prothro has already developed and is teaching an innovative four-session pilot program at the Academy of Technology and the Classics, a Santa Fe charter school. It aligns with multiple state educational standards, and she hopes to expand it to other schools.
The program offers students an opportunity to explore the past, beginning with an introduction to archaeology. Students made pots combining traditional Pueblo pottery techniques with personalized imagery reflecting their own cultural heritage. The pots were broken and buried in the schoolyard. As amateur archaeologists, they will excavate the shards in late spring, analyzing them for clues about their creators.
Meanwhile, Prothro has several other outreach plans in development. For instance, with funds from private sources, she envisions adding picnic tables and a ramada to create a vibrant outdoor classroom that attracts school groups to the Center for New Mexico Archaeology, where OAS is based. With these amenities, she will engage students in hands-on learning experiences, including pottery making, shell drilling and the ancient art of spear throwing with an atlatl.
She also wants to bring more students to explore OAS’s world-renowned research laboratories and extensive comparative collections. Interacting with leading scientists and researchers, whose high-tech experiments reveal ancient histories, provides unique insights into past cultures. Prothro says she hopes that “this immersive experience will ignite a passion for the
To support the Office of Archaeological Studies, contact Lauren Paige at 505.982.2282 or lauren@museumfoundation.org.
A visitor participates in a pottery painting activity during Archaeology Day at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology. Photo by Melissa Martinez, courtesy Office of Archaeological Studies.
Opposite: Ziggy Prothro is the full-time instructional coordinator at the Office of Archaeological Studies. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
field and knowledge about our shared human history.”
Educators throughout the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs meet bi-monthly to share resources, enabling Prothro to leverage their collective expertise. The New Mexico State Library, for example, is guiding her in reaching a new audience: the blind and visually impaired. She wants to reach these constituents with tactile objects, such as yucca leaf paintbrushes and baskets, as well as stone tools and their source materials.
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture educators are advising Prothro on a program for the Pueblo of Acoma’s K-8 Haak’u Community Academy. And inspired by the successful program at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Detention Center, offered by the Wonder on Wheels (WOW) mobile museum, she envisions projects for incarcerated youth. With pottery-making and interactive sessions with objects from the OAS Tabletop Museum, she says she can “teach valuable life skills and foster multicultural understanding while having fun.”
While Prothro’s sights are set high, she recognizes the importance of collaboration and private support through the Museum of New Mexico Foundation. “OAS’s awardwinning outreach programs share the stories of New Mexico’s past, uncovered through our fieldwork and laboratory research,” she says. “OAS programs require private funding to continue this important work.”
When Life Gives You Lemons
Last May, the Office of Archaeological Studies successfully tested its newly donated supercritical fluid extraction system, using lemon peels to practice extracting organic compounds from samples before radiocarbon dating.
The strong scent of the extracted oils filled the lab, confirming the system’s functionality. “It made the room smell amazing,” says laboratory supervisor Shelby Jones.
The extraction system was donated for use in OAS’s Low Energy Plasma Radiocarbon Sampling Laboratory by Jerry King, a world-renowned scientist in supercritical fluid technology and applied chemical engineering.
King is a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas and a program manager and research scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
By removing contaminants from dating samples, the new system will help scientists obtain more accurate age estimates for ancient objects. Results from future dating analysis will be submitted to academic publications.
“OAS’s vital research relies on support from Friends of Archaeology and Museum of New Mexico Foundation donors to maintain, calibrate and upgrade our cutting-edge technology,” Jones says.
Summer Learning
Offering Career Pathways for Students
At St. John’s College, all undergraduate students take rigorous, seminarstyle humanities classes based in classic literature, philosophy, science and mathematics. Many of them explore career pathways through the school’s ARIEL Internship Program, which coordinates summer internships in professional settings—including the Museum of New Mexico system.
The initiative is aligned with St. John’s collaboration as a Museum of New Mexico Foundation Corporate Partner, at the $10,000 Lead Partner level. (ARIEL internship stipends are privately funded by St. John’s.)
“Internship experience is the number-one predictor of a student’s ability to get a job after graduation,” says Meg Williams, who coordinates internships for St. John’s Office of Personal and Professional Development. “Internships in Santa Fe museums are great preparation for graduate school, and the skills they learn are transferrable to many other professional contexts.”
In 2024, intern Diego Salinas was an archive technician at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture’s Laboratory of Anthropology under lead archivist Diane Bird. “I developed skills in processing collections and ensuring that collections were up to archival preservation standards,” he says, “and I [assisted] and built relationships with external and internal researchers.”
Salinas also contributed to strategic plans to expand and reorganize the archives. “This experience provided me with a strategic mindset and an understanding of the complexities involved in managing archival institutions,” he says.
At the New Mexico Museum of Art, intern Brooke Nitti catalogued the works of Eugenie Shonnard in the museum collection and prepared a timeline of her life. Both projects supported the exhibition Eugenie Shonnard: Breaking the Mold, on view at the museum’s downtown Plaza Building through August 24.
“I worked closely with many wonderful mentors, but it was ultimately my job to learn what existed and decide the best way to work and when to seek guidance,” Nitti explains. “Every new discovery was extremely exciting.”
Another Museum of Art intern, Sarah Lawrence, spent the summer in the library and archives, which she came to see as a crucial research site for curators, educators and the community.
“I’ve always believed in the fundamental importance of art, but I had no idea what I would be able to contribute if I pursued art history further,” Lawrence says. “Now, I see that an art museum [tells] a story. It passes on traditions, educates, amuses, inspires and challenges—and helps people see themselves and others in ways they otherwise wouldn’t.”
In 2024, the St. John’s College ARIEL Internship Program provided opportunities for students to learn about research in museum libraries and archives. Photo by Saro Calewarts.
To learn more about becoming a Corporate Partner, contact Mariann Lovato at mariann@museumfoundation.org or 505.216.0849.
Real Estate: A Powerful Legacy Gift
A gift of real estate—homes, vacation properties, undeveloped land, ranches or commercial properties—to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation is a powerful way to support the museums and cultural institutions you cherish while receiving these unique benefits:
• Avoid Capital Gains Tax: By donating appreciated property, you may eliminate the capital gains tax associated with selling the asset.
• Tax Savings: Receive a charitable income tax deduction based on the property’s fair market value.
• Enduring Impact: Ensure that New Mexico’s museums and cultural heritage thrive for years to come.
What’s more, your property gift can be tailored to your wishes, supporting specific institutions or programs within our museum system.
Foundation donor and member Jay Ihrig of Addison, Texas, says a gift of real estate is for him a perfect fit. “By donating my estate, I know I’m contributing to something timeless—preserving the art, history and culture that define New Mexico’s identity and inspire future generations.”
To learn more about making a real estate gift, contact Laura Sullivan at 505.216.0829 or laura@museumfoundation.org. Or visit mnmflegacy.org.
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Sculptural and Functional
At the George Duncan and Sheryl Kelsey Shop at Vladem Contemporary
Santa Fe Plaza Spiegelberg Shop New Mexico History Museum
Rosalie D. and Steven J. Harris Shop New Mexico Museum of Art Museum Hill Lynn Godfrey Brown Shop
