WINTER LIFE 2026
THREE PASTRY CHEFS THE TRUJILLO FAMILY
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Embrace the warmth of our cultures
Join us for the awe-inspiring annual Lights of Gisewa at Jemez Historic Site, December 11–12, 2026
New Mexico has many holiday traditions, and you’re invited to experience the magic at our museums and historic sites across the state. Visit nmculture.org/traditions for details.
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12,000 works of Native American art. Up Close.
Indian Arts Research Center Tours Experience the open-shelf collections of SAR’s Indian Arts Research Center Guided Tours Fridays at 2 PM
Book your tour at
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sarweb.org/tours
THANK YOU, SANTA FE! FOR SAVING WATER ALL YEAR ROUND IN OUR HIGH DESERT HOME, SMALL HABITS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
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WINTER LIFE
PUBLISHER Patrick Dorsey EXECUTIVE EDITOR Bill Church EDITORIAL Magazine Editor Ashley M. Biggers abiggers@sfnewmexican.com Designer Linda M. Peters linda@swelldesign.net Copy Editor Peg Goldstein CONTRIBUTORS Gabriela Campos, Tira Howard, Kelly Koepke, Lanee Lee, Jennifer Levin, Gabriella Marks, Douglas Merriam, and Adele Oliveira ADVERTISING Chief Advertising and Marketing Director Wendy Ortega
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
ON THE COVER A cranberry curd tart with toasted meringue and candied cranberries from Santa Fe pastry chef Rebecca Freeman captures seasonal flavors. Read more about Freeman and two more standout chefs on page 48. COVER PHOTO By Gabriella Marks
DISTRIBUTION Circulation Director, Michael Reichard TECHNOLOGY Technology Director, Michael Campbell WEB santafenewmexican.com ADDRESS Office: 150 Washington Ave. #105 Hours: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Friday Advertising Information: 505-995-3852 Delivery: 505-986-3010, 800-873-3372 For copies of this magazine and to subscribe to The New Mexican, call 505-986-3010 or email circulation@sfnewmexican.com.
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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MILLICENT TM
ROGERS MUSEUM
Discover our collection of contemporary and historical arts from cultures of the Southwest.
Visit the Millicent Rogers Museum and Retail Store in Taos, NM.
millicentrogers.org • (575) 758-2462 1504 Millicent Rogers Rd, El Prado, NM
Open 10am-5pm • Closed Wednesdays
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Published November 8, 2026
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46
Departments
EAT & DRINK
17
After two dark years, Santa Fe’s La Casa Sena reopens with deco flourishes, a reworked Southwest menu, and a bar built for the neighborhood.
Photos (clockwise): By Douglas Merriam, courtesy LewAllen Galleries, by Tira Howard, and by Gabriella Marks
CALENDAR
Museum exhibitions, live performances, and art markets for your winter itinerary
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28
EAT & DRINK
Meet the dessert masters sating Santa Fe’s sweet tooth.
OUTDOORS
From behind-the-scenes investments in snowmaking and lifts to front-of-house improvements in guest services, get the latest from New Mexico’s regularly operating downhill ski resorts for the 2026–2027 season.
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31
STAY
The newly opened Washington Inn balances a hotel’s amenities with the conveniences of a vacation rental.
53
These three artisans draw inspiration from full lives outside the studio.
These six galleries’ late fall and early winter exhibitions mark milestone anniversaries, present affordable works for gifting and collecting, and — above all — celebrate the vast artistry of the City Different.
60
SHOP
ART
Six handmade finds for gifting
The Taos Abstract Artist Collective explores the art colony’s creative past, present, and future — and redefines genres in the process.
Features
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38
WEAVING A FUTURE
GO
48
58
GALLERY GUIDE
MAKERS
35
One hundred years after the original Indian Detours departed from La Fonda, a Native-owned and -led tour company is reinventing the excursions.
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The Trujillo family evolves heritage Rio Grande weaving at Chimayó’s Centinela Traditional Arts. By Adele Oliveira Photography by Tira Howard
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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HEARING & BALANCE
Rooted in Santa Fe, Led by Physicians, Centered on You
Experience Santa Fe’s Winter Season More Fully with Better Hearing Southwestern Hearing & Balance is dedicated to the principle that hearing and balance issues are medical conditions. We believe the best outcomes come from close collaboration between ENT physicians and audiologists to provide patients with coordinated, comprehensive care. It’s our priority and our pleasure to ensure our patients are hearing their best and able to enjoy life to the fullest!
Southwestern Hearing & Balance is now accepting new patients. Call to schedule an appointment (505) 946-3955 or visit our website HearSantaFe.com to learn more.
Photo: By Stephen White & Co.; courtesy of the artist, Stephen Friedman Gallery, and the Museum of International Folk Art
CALENDAR
Your seasonal guide to museum exhibitions, concerts, and art markets
Ms. Utopia by Yinka Shonibare, CBE, appears in Truths Be Told: Artists Activate Traditions at the Museum of International Folk Art.
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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ART MARKETS
NOVEMBER 14–15, 10 A.M.–5 P.M. Contemporary Clay Fair This cooperative fair showcases more than two dozen ceramic artists. Tickets: free to attend. Santa Fe Women’s Club, 1616 Old Pecos Trail. contemporaryclayfair.com NOVEMBER 28, 10 A.M.–6 P.M.; NOVEMBER 29, 9 A.M.–4 P.M. SWAIA Winter Indian Market This holiday market includes jewelry, pottery, paintings, textiles, and other creations by 150-plus Indigenous artists. Tickets: $15 per day or $25 weekend pass. Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St. swaia.org DECEMBER 5, 9 A.M.–5 P.M.; DECEMBER 6, 9:30 A.M.–4 P.M. Winter Spanish Market Browse traditional Spanish colonial arts, from jewelry to textiles, made by modern masters. Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St. Tickets: free. traditionalspanishmarket.org
FOOD JANUARY 30, VIP 11 A.M.–NOON, GENERAL ADMISSION NOON–2:30 P.M. Souper Bowl Each winter The Food Depot unites the community at Souper Bowl, a friendly competition where more than 20 local chefs prepare signature soups and vie for the “Best Soup in Santa Fe” vote. Every ticket purchase supports the regional food bank’s healthy food distributions, wraparound services, and advocacy work. This popular, kid-friendly event typically sells out and raises enough to provide half a million meals. Tickets: on sale beginning December 1; VIP from $125, general admission from $50. Santa Fe Community Convention Center, 201 W. Marcy St. give.thefooddepot.org/souperbowl
EXHIBITIONS
NOVEMBER 13–MAY 2027 Nuevos Dioses: Devotional Painting in the Age of AI Via the work of Patrick McGrath Muñiz and New Mexican artists who have introduced technology into their heritage art practice, this exhibition explores the intersection of art and artificial intelligence. Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, 750 Camino Lejo. nmheritagearts.org NOVEMBER 21–MARCH 1, 2028 Spaces of Becoming This exhibition explores how Georgia O’Keeffe’s Abiquiú adobe home informed her artistic practice, revealing the interplay between everyday life, intimate domestic details, and the natural world. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, 217 Johnson St. okeeffemuseum.org
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
THROUGH NOVEMBER I Am Clay: Acoma Life in Figures This community-curated project focuses on figurative pottery from Acoma. The exhibition is the Museum of International Folk Art’s contribution to the national Craft in America initiative, marking the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. internationalfolkart.org JANUARY 27, 2027–JANUARY 24, 2028 Claiming Inspiration: Artisans, Culture, and Commercialization The exhibition explores the boundary between cultural appropriation and artistic appreciation in the global fashion industry and sheds light on cultural and intellectual property rights. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. moifa.org THROUGH JANUARY 3, 2027 Dakota Mace: 2026—Shímásání Bila’ (My Grandmother’s Hand) Mace reinterprets Diné stories and culture through experimental photography. Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place. iaia.edu/mocna THROUGH JANUARY 3, 2027 Building Worlds: Ken Fury and Gary Medina Cook New Mexico–based artists explore Genízaro cultural narratives of the Southwest. Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place. iaia.edu/mocna THROUGH JANUARY 3, 2027 States of Erosion: Reshaping and Reclaiming This exhibition reclaims and transforms spaces through light, sound, installations, and two-dimensional artworks. Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place. iaia.edu/mocna THROUGH JANUARY 7, 2027 Truths Be Told: Artists Activate Traditions This exhibit highlights the work of a dozen international artists who galvanize folk traditions to critique social inequities, reverse erasure, and be catalysts for social change. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. internationalfolkart.org THROUGH JANUARY 11, 2027 Larry Bell: Improvisations This exhibition spans 40 years of Bell’s two- and three-dimensional practice, featuring glass sculptures —
Larry Bellʼs Pacific Red II appears in Larry Bell: Improvisations at SITE Santa Fe.
from tabletop constructions to large free-standing installations — and wall-mounted works in various media. The exhibition originated at the Phoenix Art Museum, traveled to San Antonio, and concludes its tour in New Mexico, where the artist has lived and worked since 1973. SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta. sitesantafe.org
THROUGH JANUARY 11, 2027 Sara Genn: How to Build a Sky This is the first solo institutional exhibition for the New York and Palm Springs–based artist, featuring a suite of paintings that respond to SITE’s architectural frame and a mural commissioned for the building’s courtyard. SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta. sitesantafe.org THROUGH JANUARY 11, 2027 Sayre Gomez: Closed Forever This exhibition presents a selection of large-scale paintings and sculpture the Los Angeles artist has produced in the past five years, offering a focused look at his engagement with the urban landscape and the decline of late-stage capitalism. SITE Santa Fe, 1606 Paseo de Peralta. sitesantafe.org THROUGH JANUARY 20, 2027 Americana at 250: Eagles, Flags, and Uncle Sam This exhibit showcases objects that evoke a sense of national identity and pride to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. nmhistorymuseum.org THROUGH JANUARY 30, 2028 La Nueva Mexico: Art & Life in the Interior Lands This exhibition explores the history of New Mexico via 150 historic objects and rarely seen pieces from the
Museum of International Folk Art’s permanent collections. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. internationalfolkart.org
THROUGH JANUARY 31, 2027 Makowa: The Worlds Above Us From radio astronomy to solstice calendars, Indigenous peoples look to the sky for timekeeping, meaning, and beauty. This exhibition juxtaposes ways of seeing, noticing, and understanding the skies and the beings in them. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, 710 Camino Lejo. indianartsandculture.org THROUGH FEBRUARY 27, 2027 New Acquisitions at the Museum of International Folk Art View some of the museum’s purchases and gifts of the last five years. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. moifa.org THROUGH MARCH 7, 2027 Stars, Stripes, and First Americans The stars and stripes of the American flag are found everywhere today: on clothing, billboards, and bumper stickers — and in Native art. This exhibition explores images of the flag in Native work, both realistic and abstract, as each generation interprets the flag within a dialogue about identity, sovereignty, and cultural revitalization. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, 710 Camino Lejo. indianartsandculture.org THROUGH MARCH 7, 2027 Route 66 Is Indian Country In honor of Route 66’s centennial, this exhibition explores the tradition of roadside stands along the Mother Road. Today, tribally owned enterprises (such as casinos and multiplaza gas stations) have replaced the curio shops, and Pueblo people are leading cultural tourism initiatives that support their economic
Photo: By Matthew Millman, courtesy SITE Santa Fe
CALENDAR
THROUGH NOVEMBER 29 Paul Burlin: An American Modernist in the Southwest This exhibition reintroduces Paul Burlin (1886–1969) as a foundational yet long-overlooked figure in American modernism, centering his deep and formative relationship with New Mexico. It showcases his early mural paintings — Stone Age, Rhapsody, and Awakening — which were profoundly shaped by his 1910 visit to New Mexico, along with other works. New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave. nmartmuseum.org
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CALENDAR development and reclaim cultural narratives. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, 710 Camino Lejo. indianartsandculture.org
THROUGH MARCH 14, 2027 Best of Show: Making History at Santa Fe Indian Market This exhibition traces the history and evolution of the Southwest Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Indian Market awards program and the prestigious award that honors the “best of the best.” Developed in partnership with SWAIA, the exhibition invites visitors to explore what artistic excellence has meant, and who has defined it, over the span of Indian Market’s 104-year history. Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, 710 Camino Lejo. indianartsandculture.org THROUGH SPRING 2027 Deconstructing Landscape Drawn from the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Foundation collection, this exhibition features artists who offer unique interpretations of the traditional picturesque landscape across a variety of genres. Featured artists include Larry Bell, Judy Chicago, Fritz Scholder, and Will Wilson. Thoma Collection, 540 S. Guadalupe St. thomafoundation.org/ thoma-collection-santa-fe
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
THROUGH APRIL 17, 2027 Outburst: Native American Art After Vietnam This exhibition asks: Can we accurately interpret the popularity and impact of contemporary Native American art from the 1970s without acknowledging the experiences of Native American artist veterans after the Vietnam War? Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, 704 Camino Lejo. wheelwright.org THROUGH APRIL 25, 2027 Zara Kriegstein: A Thousand Points of Light One of Northern New Mexico’s most significant muralists and painterhistorians to emerge during the late twentieth century, Zara Kriegstein (1952–2009) worked across painting, print, and large-scale public murals to create powerful explorations of personal and collective histories. This exhibition draws from the New Mexico Museum of Art’s collection to show how she engaged with the questions of her time. New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., nmartmuseum.org THROUGH MAY 2, 2027 Home on the Range: From Ranches to Rockets The New Mexico History Museum and the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum present this exhibition chronicling the history of the Tularosa basin in south-central New Mexico, from ranching in the late 1800s through
the testing of military weapons on the White Sands Missile Range. New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. nmhistorymuseum.org
THROUGH MAY 31, 2027 Chimayó: A Tradition of Faith This New Mexico History Museum exhibit explores the history and spiritual significance of the Santuario de Chimayó’s annual pilgrimage via photography, oral histories, and a re-creation of the Santuario’s ex-voto rooms. New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. nmhistorymuseum.org THROUGH MAY 31, 2027 Legacies on the Land: Photographs by Joan Myers and Patrick Nagatani In the 1990s, two American photographers based in New Mexico, Joan Myers (b. 1944) and Patrick Nagatani (1945–2017), traveled independently to find little-marked sites of World War II Japanese American detention camps and photographed their remains. This exhibition showcases their images. New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., nmartmuseum.org THROUGH MAY 31 Reclaiming the Future: The Legacy of Japanese American Incarceration This major exhibition brings together 10 Japanese and Japanese American
artists — Ruth Asawa, Aisuke Kondo, David Horvitz, Lehuauakea, Patrick Nagatani, Ken Okiishi, Roger Shimomura, TT Takemoto, Gaku Tsutaja, and Carrie Yamaoka — whose work engages the enduring legacies of wartime incarceration, migration, memory, and place. Vladem Contemporary, 404 Montezuma Ave., nmartmuseum.org
THROUGH JUNE 27, 2027 A Question of Power Using photographs, videos, and audio interviews, this exhibition tells the story of three Diné women — Sarah Jane White, Lucie A. Willie, and Molley Hogue — who helped defeat construction of a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation. New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. nmhistorymuseum.org THROUGH SEPTEMBER 5, 2027 The Art Underground: Fantasy Coffins of Ghana This exhibition showcases the vivid, sculptural forms that carry memory, identity, and desire into the afterlife. Often called fantasy or design coffins, the creations transform a funerary tradition into a living, evolving art. Museum of International Folk Art, 706 Camino Lejo. moifa.org THROUGH SEPTEMBER 12, 2027 1912 This New Mexico History Museum exhibition celebrates the Land of Enchantment’s statehood with artifacts such as the Great Seal
Tickets: from $90. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org
Photo: Courtesy of the artist and the Museum of Contemporary Native Art
of the State of New Mexico crafted from everyday hardware, Governor William C. McDonald’s top hat and formal wear, and Charles Ilfeld’s personal desk. New Mexico History Museum, 113 Lincoln Ave. nmhistorymuseum.org
THROUGH OCTOBER 24, 2027 Eliot Porter Trees This exhibition includes a selection of 15 images from the New Mexico Museum of Art’s collection taken by Eliot Porter (1901–1990) on his travels around the world, from the arid landscapes of New Mexico to the lush forests of Costa Rica. New Mexico Museum of Art, 107 W. Palace Ave., nmartmuseum.org
PERFORMING ARTS THROUGH NOVEMBER 22 THURSDAY–SATURDAY 7:30 P.M., SUNDAY 2 P.M. Lunar Eclipse The New Mexico Actors Lab presents this play in which a long-married couple watch a lunar eclipse. As the celestial phenomenon unfolds, the two reflect on land, legacy, children, and dogs, slowly revealing they are a mystery to each other. Tickets: $35. New Mexico Actors Lab, 1213 Parkway Dr., Suite B. nmactorslab.com NOVEMBER 9, 8:30 P.M. Puma Blue Lensic 360 presents Puma Blue performing its new album Croak Dream,
NOVEMBER 13, 8:30 P.M. Slothrust Lensic 360 presents singer/guitarist Leah Wellbaum and drummer Will Gorin. Tickets: $25. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle. lensic360.org
Yupkoyvi by Michael Namingha (Tewa and Hopi) appears in States of Erosion: Reshaping and Reclaiming at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
a ruminative exploration of death and rebirth. Tickets: $30. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle. lensic360.org
NOVEMBER 10, 8 P.M. Two Runner Lensic 360 presents Paige Anderson of Two Runner in a performance of songs from Porchlight, her resolute and tenderhearted new record. Tickets: $15. Marigold Room at Hotel Glorieta, 750 N. St. Francis Dr. lensic360.org NOVEMBER 10, 8:30 P.M. Bayonne Lensic360 presents the Austin, Texas–based experimental avantpop/electronic musician performing selections from his fourth album, Filters. Tickets: $30. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle. lensic360.org
NOVEMBER 11, 7:30 P.M. Buena Vista Orchestra Virtuoso Cuban violinist Rolando Morejón Reyes leads the world’s foremost Cuban music repertory ensemble. Tickets: from $44. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org NOVEMBER 11, 8:30 P.M. Bahamas Lensic 360 presents the Canadian musician Afie Jurvanen. Tickets: $35. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle. lensic360.org NOVEMBER 12, 7:30 P.M. Philip Glass Ensemble: Powaqqatsi Live Experience director Godfrey Reggio’s Powaqqatsi on the big screen as the acclaimed Philip Glass Ensemble performs the soundtrack live.
NOVEMBER 13–15 FRIDAY 7 P.M.; SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 2 P.M. The Treatment This play by Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, is an intense psychological battle between a traumatized soldier and a female psychologist colonel assessing him in the wake of wartime atrocities. Tickets: general admission $25, youth $15. Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie. teatroparaguasnm.org NOVEMBER 13–22 FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 7 P.M.; SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 2 P.M. The Emperor’s New Clothes Umbrella Children’s Theatre presents this adaptation of the fairy tale about vanity and appearances. Tickets: $15 adults, $5 children. Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie. teatroparaguasnm.org NOVEMBER 14, 7:30 P.M. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Aspen Santa Fe Ballet presents the first contemporary dance
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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reluctance to commit and the meaning of being alive. A trailblazer of the modern musical comedy genre, the show uses a nonlinear structure rather than a traditional plot. Tickets: from $20. Santa Fe Playhouse, 142 E. De Vargas St. santafeplayhouse.org
company in the Chinese-speaking world. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan is celebrated for blending traditional practices with ballet, contemporary movement, and street dance. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. aspensantafeballet.com
NOVEMBER 14, 8:30 P.M. Lil Fish + Govinda Lensic 360 presents Lil Fish, a French deejay and electronic music producer, and Govinda, the alter ego of Austin-based producer/composer Shane Madden. Tickets: $25. Meow Wolf, 1352 Rufina Circle. lensic360.org NOVEMBER 14–15 SATURDAY 4 P.M.; SUNDAY 3 P.M. Fall Orchestra With Benjamin Hochman conducting, Santa Fe Pro Musica presents selections from Bach, Mendelssohn, Esmail, and Mozart. Tickets: from $31. St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. sfpromusica.org NOVEMBER 16, 7:30 P.M. Derek Hough: Dance for the Holidays Hough’s latest dance spectacular is a show-stopping event for the whole family. Tickets: from $50. Popejoy Hall, 203 Cornell Dr., Albuquerque. popejoypresents.com
Postmodern Jukebox is set to perform at the Lensic Performing Arts Center.
NOVEMBER 17, 7 P.M. Swan Lake: Symphony of Lights Tchaikovsky’s iconic score is reimagined with vivid lighting, illuminated costumes, and world-class dancers from around the globe who transform the classic ballet into a mesmerizing visual experience. Tickets: from $59. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org NOVEMBER 18, 6 P.M. PKN: Potluck Via a PechaKucha format (20 slides for 20 seconds each), local creatives and change-makers present unexpected stories, ideas, and discoveries. Tickets: $28. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org NOVEMBER 19, 7:30 P.M. Nick Shoulders Lensic 360 presents the acoustic instrumentalist and vocalist on his Apocalypse, Never! Tour. Tickets:
$30. Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, 2791 Agua Fria St. lensic360.org
NOVEMBER 19–22, 28–29 THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS 7 P.M.; SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS 2 P.M. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella Tri-M presents an “enchanted” version of the classic musical featuring a lead Fairy Godmother and a strong and willful Cinderella seeking a better life. Tickets: from $20. St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. trimsantafe.org NOVEMBER 19–DECEMBER 20 THURSDAYS–SATURDAYS 7:30 P.M., SUNDAYS 2 P.M. Company Santa Fe Playhouse presents this musical showcasing the joys and struggles of relationships, marriage, and singledom, which force the protagonist to confront their own
NOVEMBER 20, 7:30 P.M. Mireya Ramos and the Poor Choices Led by Grammy-winning vocalist and violinist Mireya Ramos, this groundbreaking collaboration celebrates the rich musical traditions of the U.S.–Mexico border, blending genres like ranchera, jarocho, bluegrass, jazz, and country. Tickets: $37. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org NOVEMBER 21–22 SATURDAY 7 P.M.; SUNDAY 4 P.M. Handel’s Messiah Conducted by Santa Fe Symphony music director Guillermo Figueroa and featuring the Santa Fe Symphony Chorus under the direction of Carmen Flórez-Mansi, these annual performances are a treasured Santa Fe tradition. Tickets: from $34. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org NOVEMBER 24, 7:30 P.M. Cat Clyde & Dean Johnson Lensic 360 presents Canadian songwriter Cat Clyde and Seattle-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
Photo: Courtesy Lensic Performing Arts Center
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DECEMBER 9, 7:30 P.M. Postmodern Jukebox: The Future Is Vintage Tour 2026 The internationally acclaimed collective of singers, dancers, and instrumentalists takes audiences on a global musical tour. Tickets: from $75. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org
Dean Johnson. Tickets: $29. The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing (indoors), 37 Fire Place. lensic360.org
NOVEMBER 27–JANUARY 2, 2027, 6:15 P.M. Entreflamenco Christmas Season Enjoy a flamenco cabaret experience in Santa Fe with music and dance from the resident company, featuring Antonio Granjero, alongside Spanish tapas and a selection of beer and wine. Performances daily except Christmas. Tickets: from $25 (dinner not included). El Flamenco Cabaret, 135 W. Palace Ave. entreflamenco.com DECEMBER 5, 10 A.M. The Met: Live in HD, Samson et Dalila Saint-Saëns’s take on the biblical hero of legendary strength and the seductive Philistine whose beauty overpowers him returns in the Met’s larger-than-life production. Tickets: $30. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org DECEMBER 6, 4 P.M. Sounds of the Season Led by Maestro Guillermo Figueroa, the Santa Fe Symphony presents a brilliant program packed with winter and holiday favorites. The program includes popular tunes as well as selections from the Nutcracker Suite and “Winter” from Vivaldi’s Four
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The Santa Fe Symphony performs its annual Sounds of the Season concert.
Seasons. Tickets: from $34. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org
DECEMBER 7, 7:30 P.M. Aoife O’Donovan & Chris Thile: Wassail! A Holiday Celebration Celebrate the season with Grammy Award–winning artists Aoife O’Donovan and Chris Thile as they perform treasured holiday songs. Tickets: from $70. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org DECEMBER 9, 7 P.M. Carols & Choruses The Santa Fe Symphony Chorus celebrates the season of joy with its popular holiday concert.
DECEMBER 12–22 SATURDAYS 7:30 P.M.; SUNDAYS 4 P.M.; TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS 7 P.M. Carols & Lullabies: A Winter’s Glow Santa Fe Desert Chorale’s annual Winter Festival returns to celebrate with the warmth and beauty of the holiday season. Twenty-four professional artists and guest collaborative pianist Nathan Salazar perform beloved carols, transcendent sacred works, and festive tunes. Tickets: from $14. Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, 131 Cathedral Place. desertchorale.org
DECEMBER 13, 4 P.M.; DECEMBER 19, 3 P.M. Heaven and Nature Sing!
The Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble’s holiday concert — Heaven and Nature Sing! — invites audiences into a luminous winter journey, opening with John Rutter’s beloved arrangement of “Personent Hodie”
and moving through music of peace, proverb, starlight, and celebration. Featuring works by Rutter, Frances Farrell, Christine Donkin, and Edward Elgar and concluding with Dan Forrest’s Celtic-infused “Joy to the World,” the program glows with hope, wonder, and festive joy. Tickets: from $30; discounts available. First Presbyterian Church, 208 Grant Ave. sfwe.org
DECEMBER 16, 7:30 P.M. The Wooten Brothers Lensic 360 presents the family band, whose music bends and defines genres, amplifies centuries, and spans continents. Tickets: $43. Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery, 2791 Agua Fria St. lensic360.org DECEMBER 18–19 FRIDAY 7 P.M.; SATURDAY 4 P.M. Bach Festival I Presented by Santa Fe Pro Musica, pianist Dan Tepfer offers interpretations and spontaneous improvisations on J.S. Bach’s Inventions. Tickets: from $31. St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. sfpromusica.org DECEMBER 19, 1 P.M.; DECEMBER 20, 5 P.M. The Nutcracker Celebrate the season with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet in this familyfriendly performance of the holiday classic. Tickets: From $45. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org
Photo: By Kevin Zansler, courtesy Santa Fe Symphony
Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, 131 Cathedral Place. desertchorale.org
St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. sfpromusica.org
DECEMBER 20–23 SUNDAY 3 P.M.; MONDAY AND TUESDAY 7 P.M. Bach Festival II — A Baroque Christmas Presented by Santa Fe Pro Musica, violinist Colin Jacobsen leads selections to celebrate a Baroque Christmas. Tickets: from $31. St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. sfpromusica.org DECEMBER 22, 7:30 P.M. Judy Collins — Farewell Tour Judy Collins bids adieu to the road, and audiences get one last chance to experience her timeless voice and storytelling live. Tickets: from $59. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org DECEMBER 24, 4 P.M. Holiday Movie Magic Join the Santa Fe Symphony and music director Guillermo Figueroa for musical highlights from familyfriendly holiday films, including The Polar Express, Elf, and Home Alone. Tickets: from $35. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org DECEMBER 29–30, 7 P.M. Bach Festival III — Bach & Beyond Led by violinist Colin Jacobsen and presented by Santa Fe Pro Musica,
Zeitgeist Dance Theatre is set to lead Santa Fe Moves.
DECEMBER 31, 1 P.M. Joe Illick and the New Year’s Eve Orchestra Every December, conductor, composer, and music director Joe Illick brings the brightest musicians to the Lensic stage to ring in the New Year. This year’s performers include violinist Augustin Hadelich, soprano Jennifer Rowley, and baritone Raymond Diaz. Tickets: from $39. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org
and community designed for every body and every generation. Bringing together professional artists, young dancers, families, lifelong movers, curious beginners, and people who have never considered themselves dancers, the weekend invites Santa Fe to experience movement as something everyone shares. The celebration includes classes and workshops, performances, artist conversations, and special preview performances from the dance company’s upcoming summer season. See website for ticket and location details. zeitgeistdancetheatre.org/projects
JANUARY 8–10, 2027 Santa Fe Moves Zeitgeist Dance Theatre presents a weekend-long celebration of dance, movement, creativity,
JANUARY 16, 4 P.M. Winter Orchestra Santa Fe Pro Musica presents selections from Mozart, Schnittke, and Tchaikovsky. Tickets: from $29.
flautist Jesse Tatum and violist Toby Appel perform selections from Bach, Britten, and Mendelssohn. Tickets: $31. St. Francis Auditorium, 107 W. Palace Ave. sfpromusica.org
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JANUARY 17, 4 P.M. European Melodies The Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra brings European selections to the stage, including the overture to Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Grieg’s Piano Concerto, and Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” Symphony. Tickets: from $34. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org JANUARY 24, 7:30 P.M. Ballet Hispánico New York The nation’s leading Hispanic/Latin dance company presents Mujeres: Women in Motion, where three powerful choreographic voices explore identity, conscience, and cultural inheritance. Tickets: from $81. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org JANUARY 27, 7:30 P.M. Third Coast Percussion: Ripples in the Water The Chicago-based Grammy Award–winning percussion quartet honors composer Philip Glass. Tickets: from $48. Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. lensic.org — compiled by AMB
Photo: © Audrey Derell, courtesy Zeitgeist Dance Theatre
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Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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OUTDOORS
PRIME
POWDER
A skier kicks up a spray of snow at Ski Santa Fe in December 2025.
Long-range weather forecasts are predicting strengthening El Niño patterns, which could mean a snowier winter for New Mexico — a boon to snow seekers of all stripes. From behind-the-scenes investments in snowmaking and lifts to front-of-house improvements in guest services, here’s the latest from New Mexico’s regularly operating downhill ski resorts for the 2026–2027 season. Angel Fire Resort offers 80 runs over 30 acres of trails, and there’s plenty more snowy fun available on the slopes — check out the three terrain parks — and off. The resort also offers a tubing hill, a sledding area, a Nordic center, and snowshoe trails. Shredding continues after dark on select days; it’s the only resort in the area with night skiing. 800-633-7463 I angelfireresort.com Projected opening date: December 1 1 Distance from Santa Fe: 94 miles New this year: For the 2026–2027 season, the ski area debuts the Angel Express, New Mexico’s first and only high-speed six-seater chairlift. It represents the resort’s second brand-new chairlift installation in as many years. The upgraded lift increases uphill capacity to 1,800 people per hour, minimizing wait times and maximizing time on the slopes. A new RFID ticket and pass system also enables guests to bypass traditional ticket windows and head straight to the lift for hands-free scanning. And a new base-area building acts as a centralized guest hub, with an upgraded ticket office, expanded rental shop, and retail area. Try this: Founded in 1966, Angel Fire Resort marks its 60th anniversary this year with a season-long schedule of anniversary events; retro-themed ski days; a homecoming banquet to bring together generations of skiers, former staff, and local families; and other festivities honoring its history. Check out its commemorative merchandise, including limited-edition anniversary posters, enamel pins, apparel, and gear.
PAJARITO MOUNTAIN SKI AREA
Entirely built by volunteers and once accessible only to scientists ensconced in Los Alamos, this 300-acre ski area is no longer a secret. But the lift lines remain short and the powder great. The high-elevation resort — its base elevation is 9,000 feet with a top elevation of 10,440 — offers breathtaking views of the Jemez Mountains and the Rio Grande Valley. Half of the 280 skiable acres are intermediate terrain, and glade skiing is available. 505-662-5725 I pajarito.ski Projected opening date: December 4 Distance from Santa Fe: 40 miles New this year: The ski area was busy over the summer with the largest infrastructure investment in Pajarito’s history. As part of the Jemez Mountain Fire Protection Project, a public–private infrastructure initiative, a new pipeline will deliver more water to the ski area’s snowmaking systems. Benefits for
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skiers include more reliable early season snow, more consistent and highquality coverage for top-notch ski conditions all season, and a longer ski season. Beyond the ski area, the pipeline will also fill Pajarito’s 10 million gallon pond to provide accessible water for wildfire suppression. The ski area is also doing a full overhaul of the Aspen lift to ensure swift, safe delivery of skiers to the slopes during the 2026–2027 season. Try this: Pajarito is known for its bump runs and fall line skiing — check out its popular black diamond bump run series The Fab Four.
RED RIVER SKI & SUMMER AREA
Red River earns its nickname Ski Town of the Southwest by integrating ski culture into its small-town lifestyle. Runs are just a snowball’s throw away from Main Street, which overflows with ski and snowboard shops and après-ski spots known for live music. On the slopes, 209 skiable acres are blanketed with an average of 214 inches of snowfall per year. Enjoy park laps, three terrain parks, and a tubing hill — often without crowds. The resort has been family owned for more than 60 years. 575-754-2223 I redriverskiarea.com Projected opening date: November 25 Distance from Santa Fe: 106 miles New this year: A new magic carpet lift in the beginner and teaching area will help novice skiers get their practice turns in more quickly and easily. Try this: Plan ahead to view the Torchlight Parade & Fireworks on The Face every Saturday at 7 p.m.
SANDIA PEAK SKI AREA
From Albuquerque, enjoy a 15-minute tram ride to the top of the ski area to enjoy 300 skiable acres and an average snowfall of 117 inches. Be sure to stop for lunch, dinner, or a spiked hot chocolate at Ten 3 restaurant atop Sandia Peak. 505-242-9052 I sandia.ski Projected opening date: December 11 Distance from Santa Fe: 66 miles New this year: Major upgrades to the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway, a key way Albuquerqueans access the slopes, promise to carry skiers safely and swiftly to the ski area in 2027. Beginning in January, upgrades to the hangers will help tram cars remain level and stable as they climb steep sections of the route and will minimize swings during windy operating conditions.
Photo: By Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
ANGEL FIRE RESORT
The hangers, which have T-frames instead of the current A-frames, will also give the carriages a new look. Try this: A magic carpet lift makes accessing the beginner hills easier for novice skiers.
SIPAPU SKI AND SUMMER AREA
Even among New Mexico’s budget-friendly ski resorts, Sipapu sets a new standard for cost-conscious lift ticket prices, which are often the lowest in the state. With free passes for the under-12 set, beginner-friendly terrain, and slopeside lodging, Sipapu is known as a family-friendly destination. Its 215 skiable acres include four terrain parks. 575-587-2240 I sipapu.ski Projected opening date: November 20 Distance from Santa Fe: 60 miles New this year: In the off season, the ski area added five new snow guns to increase the coverage and speed of its snowmaking, so runs open sooner when the temperature drops. With an additional snowcat in its fleet, it will also provide 25 percent more grooming coverage on the mountain. Firsttime skiers can opt for the new Learn2Ski package ($49), which comes with a four-hour lesson, rentals, and a lift ticket — everything novices need to try the sport in one package. Yeti Club, Saturday ski and ride camps for kids, returns this year. It’s split into three sessions, with the first kicking off just after Thanksgiving, a second in January, and the third in February. It’s billed as the most affordable multi-week camp in the state. Try this: The new Lift 3 offers great progression terrain for beginners. Skiers can graduate from beginner runs to more advanced green runs via this additional lift.
SKI APACHE
Ski Apache stakes its claim as the country’s southernmost continually operating ski area. It has 750 acres of skiable terrain, 1 1 lifts — including the state’s only eight-passenger gondola — and annual snowfall of more than 15 feet, with snowmaking on a third of the mountain. Bonus: It’s near the resort’s sister property, Inn of the Mountain Gods, which offers lodging, dining, casino gaming, and entertainment. 575-464-3600 I skiapache.com Projected opening date: November 28 Distance from Santa Fe: 200 miles Editor’s note: Ski Apache did not provide updates for the season by press time.
SKI SANTA FE
As the closest ski area to Santa Fe, this independently owned and operated property is often bustling; its RFID ticketing system helps visitors access the slopes more quickly. Once there, skiers can cruise groomers, extensive gladed runs, and steeps on 660 acres via 87 trails and can catch some air in three freestyle terrain parks. Snowmaking is available on more than half the mountain. 505-982-4429 I skisantafe.com Projected opening date: November 25 Distance from Santa Fe: 16 miles New this year: It may not be freezing out yet, but Ski Santa Fe is freezing prices on its season passes and kids’ tickets; skiers will pay the same prices charged in the 2025–2026 season for these types of passes. Try this: Enjoy a Patrol Special (green chile stew with a tamale) or a green chile cheeseburger on the deck at Totemoff’s Bar & Grill while listening to live music every weekend beginning in January. Take in the vast views of Northern New Mexico from Gayway on a sunny afternoon.
TAOS SKI VALLEY
Taos Ski Valley measures in as the state’s largest — 1,294 skiable acres — and highest ski area. The Kachina Peak summit measures 12,481 feet. Itʼs also home to some of the most challenging terrain in the state, but beginners take heart: Taos Ski Valley also offers top-notch lessons. 800-776-1111 I skitaos.com Projected opening date: November 27 Distance from Santa Fe: 85 miles (18 miles from Taos) New this year: Behind the scenes, the ski area has added additional tower and fan guns to its snowmaking arsenal for stronger early season production. It has deployed a new snow depth satellite mapping system to enhance its snow grooming. It is also leaning into its European-style hospitality with new menus at The Bavarian, 192, and Whistlestop. Try this: Taos Ski Valley’s ski week program remains a hallmark of the Snowsport School. This season, ski weeks ($425) run the week of December 13 through the week of March 21. Book early for half-price weeks of December 13 and January 3 ($220). Women’s ski weeks are offered the weeks of January 3 and February 28. Race ski week will be the week of January 17, coached by former French World Cup racer Alain Veth and staff ($625). — compiled by AMB
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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STAY
The Washington Inn features vacation rental–like suites with four categories of interiors. The Blanco features white ceilings, planked beams, and red cabinets.
Photos: By Douglas Merriam, courtesy the Washington Inn
THE
LIFE
The Washington Inn balances a hotel’s amenities with the conveniences of a vacation rental.
N
BY KELLY KOEPKE
ew hotel construction in the heart of Santa Fe’s downtown is rare. There simply isn’t much room left to build on, especially near the Plaza. Yet the Washington Inn opened on September 1. This brand-new 27-unit, 44-bedroom hotel is run by two local families with deep ties in both hospitality and construction. Andy Duettra, a member of the hotel’s ownership group, Otero Partners, explains that the opportunity to purchase the Territorial Abstract & Title Company property on Otero Street in 2016 was too good to pass up. Reinventing the property has taken 10 years, with design reviews, the pandemic, and a fire shortly after construction began in 2022 all delaying progress. “Honestly, we just wanted to figure out if something of this scale could be absorbed in Santa Fe’s downtown market. . . . We felt like the
model of more of a condo-hotel, where you blend the two things together, was more appropriate for what our expertise was and for the parcel. And then the historic neighborhood and building is the other limiting factor,” Duettra says. Taking historic properties and fixing them up into vacations rentals is what Duettra and business partner Marc Bertram had been doing since 2015. Their projects have included buying and outfitting the Lincoln Building, which also includes retail tenants, and then a Delgado Street compound under the mantle of Duettra and Bertram’s AdobeStar Vacation Rentals. It now manages the Washington Inn under the AdobeStar philosophy: Provide a hotel experience with concierge and housekeeping service and with the amenities of a short-term vacation rental, such as washers and dryers, fully equipped kitchens, and ample living space. Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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STAY Many of the Washington Inn’s units are dog-friendly, so furry family members can stay in comfort too, with their own relief area on-site, as well as complimentary dog bowls and beds. With studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, all with gas fireplaces, the Washington Inn has configurations to suit everyone from solo travelers up to larger groups in four buildings: the Hughes, the Kruger, the McKee, and the Terrell. One of the 1-acre property’s new buildings takes its name from previous property owner and banker Levi A. Hughes, whose private estate was located here in the early 1900s and included a swimming pool, tennis courts, and gardens. Robert E. McKee, an influential construction contractor who oversaw Los Alamos’s rapid expansion during the Manhattan Project, purchased the property in 1950 and is responsible for construction of what became the Territorial Abstract & Title Company Building in the 1970s. Today this renovated building has been renamed after McKee and is home to a conference room and a fitness center with a sauna. Another building on-site owes its name to local architect Willard C. Kruger, whom McKee commissioned to design his Santa Fe headquarters in 1953 using a blend of Spanish, Pueblo, and territorial revival styles. Dan Terrell, president of the title company, purchased the building in 1992 and maintained it until the current owners purchased it in 2016. His role in the historic property is reflected in the name of the fourth building — the Terrell Casita, a free-standing, two-bedroom unit with a private patio. Designed by local firm Architecture Alliance, which shepherded the project through the historic review board approval process with minimal modifications, the structures adhere to the territorial revival style. Continuity across the property comes from the squared beams and white interior walls, with striking elements like brick coping and metal trim in the renovated McKee building carrying on to the contemporary exterior elements of the other buildings, which also feature stacked stone accents. In total, the inn comprises 36,000 square feet. The main entrance is on Otero Street, with a landscaped walkway to Washington Avenue. Although it’s just off the Plaza, this location feels secluded. As for the interiors, designer/owner Sydney Shults, Duettra’s daughter, took the lead, incorporating four subtle southwestern color schemes; wood plank floors; streamlined modern furnishings, rugs, and cabinetry; and stainless steel appliances in the fully equipped kitchens.
Although set near the Plaza, the Washington Inn creates a secluded, serene ambience.
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
The first theme, espresso, wears a darker color palette in countertops, cabinets, and tiles. The second, pecan, features warm browns and rust cabinets. Blanco, the third, Shults calls “Georgia O’Keeffe farmhouse,” with white ceilings, planked beams, and bright red cabinets. Finally, harvest field incorporates a dried thyme color and natural pine plank floors. “We don’t advertise the rooms as these different themes, but the hope is that there’s just enough in the photos that people can be like, ‘Oh, I really like those red cabinets. I want to stay in one of those,’” she says. Duettra adds, “We wanted everything to feel like someone’s home where they were collecting pieces. That harkens back to the whole territorial era, where you had people traveling everywhere and then bringing all their stuff collected in different places.” To evoke the territorial era of the mid- to late 1800s, Shults sourced almost 300 primarily western landscape, cowboy, and Native American paintings and photographs and balanced these traditional visuals with modern abstract and metal artworks. Local artist Lee MacLeod’s painting of Diablo Canyon — a meaningful location for the Duettra and Bertram families — greets visitors at the check-in desk. Duettra thinks a high-end, hybrid “hotel meets vacation rental” is a natural fit for Santa Fe’s hospitality offerings. He believes the inn will appeal to people who stay in traditional hotel rooms, with their on-site staff and housekeeping, but want the privacy, space, and options (like kitchens, washers, and dryers) of short-term rentals. “We’re more comfortable for longer stays than just two or three nights. You don’t have to walk through a hotel lobby to get to your unit. People who want to be right downtown can literally stay for a month or two — say for opera or market season. They want to have the amenities of having a second home here but don’t want the responsibility of it. They want the ability to make scrambled eggs in the morning so they don’t have to go out for breakfast. So in that sense it’s the best of both worlds. . . . We’ve got to be the newest, most luxurious lodging property in the heart of town — definitely — but with all the privacy of a vacation rental and within walking distance of everything.” Kelly Koepke is a Santa Fe–based freelance writer.
The Washington Inn: 220 Otero St. I 505-416-8711 thewashingtoninnsantafe.com. From $300.
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
ART
The Taos Abstract Artist Collective explores the art colony’s creative past, present, and future — and redefines genres in the process. BY JENNIFER LEVIN
Photos: Courtesy TAAC
A
Clockwise: The Taos Abstract Artist collective organized On Which It Rests in August 2024 in partnership with the Couse-Sharp Historic Site; the exhibit fostered conversation on the importance of place within the artistic process. Shane Hendrenʼs The Circle of Life cuff appears in this yearʼs TAAC-led exhibition Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries at the Millicent Rogers Museum. Visitors view TAACʼs spring community exhibition Honoring Our Intersecting Identities at the Stables Gallery in April 2025.
t sunset, light reflects off Taos Mountain and makes the village glow. The sudden sight of open fields edged in blazing pinks and golds can stop you in your tracks — and, if you’re an artist, might just make you stay forever. The light has united creatives in the Northern New Mexico town for centuries, from Pueblo potters and jewelers to early 20thcentury painters including E. Irving Couse and Ernest Blumenschein and later modernists like Agnes Martin. “Some people stay, and some people pass through — and all these people and ideas come together in this weird little place we’ve found ourselves,” says Bianca Goyette, an abstract artist, graphic designer, vocalist, and vice president of the Taos Abstract Artist Collective’s board of directors. Formed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, TAAC is a quickly expanding nonprofit, celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2027. TAAC emerged out of a longing for community as well as a hunger for new conceptions of the Taos arts scene. Although Taos is known as an artist haven, its reputation is so tightly linked to the legacies of the Taos Art Colony and Taos modernists that contemporary artists can have trouble finding a foothold in the small town. “We want to make everybody feel like they have a place, so we invite all self-identifying abstract artists to join us,” says co-founder and board president Lauren Dana Smith, who works in mixedmedia painting and sculpture as well as sound and video. “We try not to define what abstract art is. It can be a physical piece of art. It can be conceptual. It can be writing. It can be an idea.”
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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ART Broadening the Conversation
Love Letter to Place
TAAC’s current collaborative exhibition, Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries, explores boundaries of abstraction. The Millicent Rogers Museum exhibition places objects from its collection and pieces by contemporary Native artists, including metalsmith Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo), fashion designer Patricia Michaels (Taos Pueblo), jeweler Shane Hendren (Diné), and jeweler and sculptor Mayta Katari (Quechua), in conversation. Millicent Rogers Museum curator Claire Pelaez Motsinger and Myvanwy Birds, an independent archivist and SITE Santa Fe creativity and learning ambassador, originally from Ireland, co-curate the exhibition. “The museum is committed to bringing in contemporary Indigenous voices,” Smith says. “As an organization, we like to be a platform for an idea to take place. Working with the curator and guest curator, we give a blank canvas. We talk about shared goals and what ideas can constellate to become an exhibition.” As museums and collecting institutions around the world rethink how to tell the stories contained in their collections, the 70-year-old Millicent Rogers Museum strives to make its
A gallery view of the TAAC-organized exhibition Haunting Space + Holding Legacy in Tucson, Arizona, in August, featuring the work of Taos artist Dante Biss-Grayson and others
holdings of Native American, Spanish colonial, and contemporary artistry speak to today’s Taos community, which is as strongly rooted in Pueblo art traditions as it is in the legendary artists who relocated to the area. O’Kane enlisted Birds because of her connections to many Native artists through the Institute of American Indian Arts, where she studied. Museum pieces, selected in consultation with tribal experts, include traditional Diné silver and turquoise jewelry, heishi bead necklaces, a jingle dress, and a hide dress. “The exhibition title comes from the relationship between adornment, the body, and the landscape — and the subtitle is essential,” Birds says. “What we wear can carry memory, family, cultural knowledge, identity, protection, relationships, and histories that are not immediately visible. I didn’t want adornment to be understood simply as decoration or as beautiful objects displayed behind glass but rather in relation to living bodies and communities.” The abstract nature of these ideas dovetails with TAAC’s expansive definition of abstract art, where the unseen and conceptual aspects of creation — and fluidity of the style — are as relevant as the aesthetics of the finished product. Motsinger also acknowledges the abstract nature of symbolism in Native art traditions, such as pottery designs and textiles, as well as the significance of turquoise for the Diné. An important component of Where Silver Meets the Sky, turquoise is “worn for protection, and the material comes out of the land. It’s a love letter to place — and the romance in a jeweler’s eyes when they see a certain stone is a profound connection that’s not representational but goes beyond that interaction,” she says. “TAAC did a fantastic job of helping us see something new in the collection and with us understand the emotions the community will have as they see pieces they may have forgotten about, taken out of storage, coming to life.” Based in Santa Fe, Jennifer Levin is a freelance communications professional focusing on art and culture.
Learn more about the Taos Abstract Artist Collective at taosabstractartistcollective.org. Where Silver Meets the Sky: What the Body Carries is on view at the Millicent Rogers Museum (1504 Millicent Rogers Road, 575-758-2462, millicentrogers.org) through January. 36
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Photos: Courtesy TAAC
Smith had just settled permanently in Arroyo Hondo when the world shut down in early 2020, but she connected with local artists online. Together they “wondered where all the abstract artists were, what they were making,” she says. As soon as outdoor gatherings were permitted, they spread the word about a get-together in Smith’s backyard — and 25 people came. One of the guests was Chelsea Reidy, executive director of the Taos Center for the Arts, who connected the group to exhibition space at the Stables Gallery on Paseo Del Pueblo Norte. From there a tradition was born, with biannual TAAC shows in spring and fall at a gallery that was a cornerstone for the modernists of old. The collective hosted video-based studio visits and online conversations called TAAC Talks, which morphed into the monthly TAAC TALK Radio show, hosted by board member Sid Barrett, on True Taos Radio (KNCE, 93.5 FM). Using connections to artists in other regions forged throughout their careers, TAAC members collaborate beyond Taos because, Smith and Goyette say, in 2026 artists can live anywhere, and being a “Taos artist” is no longer just about being part of a single artistic community but about sharing ideas all over the world. “And it’s bigger than TAAC. We’re representing New Mexico as a place where people make art,” Smith says. TAAC brought video, textiles, sound art, and more to the 2025 and 2026 TRYST international art fair at the Torrance Art Museum in Los Angeles and recently co-curated Haunting Space + Holding Legacy at The Projects/Space in Tucson with the Southwest Black Arts Collective, of which Goyette is a member. TAAC also partnered with the Taos Center for the Arts to reboot the Taos Film Festival and is curating experimental short films for the event, taking place April 29–May 2, 2027. “TAAC is broadening the conversation around art in Taos and Northern New Mexico,” Reidy says. “The creativity and care brought to organizing exhibitions, talks, and events creates connections throughout the region among artists and organizations interested in contemporary approaches to visual arts.” High-end printed catalogs accompany all TAAC exhibitions, and every artist who participates is considered part of the collective. As the group approaches its five-year anniversary exhibition, opening May 22 at the Hotel Willa Gallery, it now has about 400 members across Northern New Mexico. “There’s a lot of flexibility and fluidity of thought in Taos,” Smith says. “People here know what it takes to live in sometimes extreme climates, or they’ve built their own homes and so have nine generations of their family. Taos fosters that expansiveness and creativity.” Because many of TAAC’s founding members have been in Taos for only a few years, some of the old-timers were initially trepidatious about the bold new group, but its inclusive approach to form, age, reputation, educational background, and identity has genuinely brought people together, says board secretary and community liaison Lynette O’Kane, who has lived in the Southwest since the 1970s. “When I was getting my degree, ‘abstraction’ meant something like Picasso, where you can see a woman’s face that’s been abstracted. And then there was nonrepresentational, where you can’t see what’s going on,” the former professor says. “I’ve since broadened those terms, and my view now is a meld between them.”
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AT THE
WHEEL
One hundred years after the original Indian Detours departed from La Fonda, a Native-owned and -led tour company is reinventing the excursions. BY ASHLEY M. BIGGERS PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABRIELA CAMPOS
Passport to Pueblo Country co-owner Elmer Torres guides visitors to San Ildefonso Puebloʼs plaza on the companyʼs Indian Detours Reimagined excursions.
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lacing one hiking boot–clad foot in front of the other, I follow Elmer Torres up a narrow stone path at Tsankawi. We’re tracing the course Torres’s San Ildefonso Pueblo ancestors once took up the mesa. Over the centuries, footsteps, wind, and water have carved narrow grooves through the porous rock leading to the mesa-top village, which is now protected as a detached area of Bandelier National Park. Torres, our guide and co-owner of the Passport to Pueblo Country tour company, prefers to lead visitors here instead of into Bandelier’s Frijoles Canyon, where scores of tourists traipsed beneath and to cliff dwellings with Indian Detours excursions in the 1920s and still do today. “This place is more like it was when the ancestors were here,” he says. “You can walk on natural lands instead of paved trails.” On our ascent, we pass petroglyphs of four-fingered beings and water serpents. Torres picks up pottery sherds for us to examine; some are painted white with black designs and others are made of glittering micaceous clay. All are reminders of the people who came before us. As our group reaches the mesa top, we can see how Tsankawi, Tewa for “sharp cactus gap,” earned its name from a break in the stands of prickly pear cactus. In the distance, we spot landmarks the people of San Ildefonso Pueblo once used to navigate their homelands — back when they measured their land according to mountain ranges, not government-imposed acres. We spy the rising turtle’s back of the Sandia Mountain peaks in the south, note the wildfire smoke from a summer blaze on the face of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east, and spot the modern buildings of Los Alamos National Laboratory segueing into the rolling forms of the Jemez Mountains in the west. At the Ancestral Puebloan village, Torres gestures to the walls returning to the earth and depressions that suggest the form of a ceremonial kiva beneath the surface. But he paints a picture of the people — his people — who once thrived here.
Historic photos (clockwise): By T. Harmon Parkhurst, courtesy of the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), negative number 201322 ; photographer unknown, courtesy of the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), negative number HP.2014.45.17; by Edward Kemp, courtesy of the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives (NMHM/DCA), negative number 046955
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Hearing these stories in his voice, from his perspective, marks a significant departure from Indian Detours of the past. Launched in 1926 and marking its 100th anniversary this year, Indian Detours, originally led by the Fred Harvey Company, galvanized tourism in the Southwest, influenced tribal creative economies, and shaped perceptions of Native peoples. To mark the centennial, Native-owned and -led Passport to Pueblo Country is reimagining the tours to offer deeper experiences and more authentic cultural perspectives.
A Century in the Making
Before Fred Harvey was a hospitality magnate, the English immigrant was a New York City dishwasher. In 1876 he cemented a partnership with the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway to bring genteel dining and lodging to stops along its tracks. The Harvey Company would go on to operate in 15 states via some 60 locations — including Santa Fe’s La Fonda on the Plaza. The AT&SF purchased the failing inn, then known as the Exchange Hotel, in 1924. Two years later, the inn became a key departure point for the Harvey Company’s Indian Detours. By then — the same year as the birth of Route 66 — train travel was decreasing and the company hoped to capitalize on burgeoning automobile travel. It also hoped to keep visitors longer at the company’s hotels as they traveled to destinations once off-limits to all but the most intrepid travelers, including geological wonders, living pueblos, and Northern New Mexico villages such as Truchas and Cordova. Although a novel concept nationally, Indian Detours followed worn paths in New Mexico. The Fred Harvey Company purchased Koshare Tours, founded in 1921 by journalist and author Erna Fergusson, which had already established the template that would become Indian Detours in New Mexico. Fergusson continued her work on behalf of Harvey, using her connections on Native lands to help Indian Detours gain a foothold in the Land of Enchantment and overseeing the selection of couriers, female tour leaders who guided the one- to three-day automobile excursions, sharing their passions for local history and culture. One of the day-trip itineraries departed from La Fonda to visit the Puye Cliff Dwellings, where the Harvey Company built a structure to welcome travelers. The building — the only Harvey House built on a reservation — now operates as the site’s visitor’s center. Another tour ventured to the cliff dwellings at Bandelier and stopped at San Ildefonso Pueblo to see the work of already established potter Maria Martinez, among others. Three-day excursions explored the region by linking stops at other Harvey Houses, including La Castañeda in Las Vegas and the Alvarado Hotel in Albuquerque.
Clockwise: Harvey couriers for Indian Detours at La Fonda, circa 1926–1931. An Indian Detours car at San Ildefonso Pueblo, circa 1928–1930. Indian Detours cars in front of La Fonda in 1929.
Amelia “Toots” McFie, one of the original eight women Fergusson hired, and fellow courier Elizabeth DeHuff authored bulletins that helped teach local history and culture to the other couriers. These bulletins, examples of which are on view in the New Mexico History Museum’s permanent Fred Harvey exhibit, discuss common questions couriers received from travelers on topics ranging from the state’s average rainfall to Pueblo languages — a conversation that also arises in Torres’s talk as our Passport to Pueblo Country van travels the highway north from Santa Fe. Elmer worked for nearly four decades at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where his positions included tribal liaison director in the government relations office; he also served as his pueblo’s governor and a tribal council member over the years. When he retired, he and his wife, Deborah, also a real estate agent, launched Than Povi Fine Art Gallery at San Ildefonso Pueblo. After tour groups began visiting the gallery, entrepreneurial Deborah researched how much the tours charged and saw an opportunity for their own endeavor. The duo launched their tours 15 years ago. In August, a small American Express grant enabled them to purchase a luxe tour van to offer transportation to Passport to Pueblo Country guests; the lack of transportation had previously hampered operations because out-of-town guests had to travel to tour destinations themselves. The tour company now offers one-day and multiday tours to a growing list of destinations, including Taos and Acoma Pueblos, and partnered with La Fonda on the Plaza for its reimagined Indian Detours in time for the excursions’ centennial this year. Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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Although the Harvey Company laid the groundwork for cultural interactions, the original Indian Detours reflected the biases of the time. In describing a dance at Santa Domingo Pueblo, a marketing brochure states, “The Indians of Santa Domingo never have ceased their struggle to maintain the purity of their blood and the primitive customs of the past. . . . To this and to other strange dances in the broad plaza the white man is admitted.” Exhibition text from Northern Arizona University’s exhibit Splendor and Spectacle: The 100 Year Journey of Grand Canyon National Park summarized the original excursions’ approach: “The interaction between the natives and the guests was limited, meant to be taken in like an exhibit with accompanying brochure text and audible instruction.” With its reimagined tours, the Torreses aim to change that.
Coming Home
When we arrive at the pueblo we’re welcomed into the Torres’s turquoisedoored home. We gather at the dining room table, where so many feast day meals have been eaten before today. Deborah dons an apron and serves bowl upon bowl of beans, posole, and calabacitas, and trays of red and green chile enchiladas. We tear off pieces of horno-baked bread to dip in smoky red chile that’s served by the ladleful and sneak second helpings of enchiladas as Elmer retells the story of the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. After lunch, we find places on couches in the family’s living room for a pottery demonstration from Madeline E. Naranjo. Using a PowerPoint presentation displayed on a big-screen TV, Naranjo walks us through her process of digging out chocolate-colored clay. She passes around plastic ziplock bags of sun-dried clay and volcanic ash as she shows pictures of mixing the ingredients with her feet on a plastic bag in her kitchen. Using a piece of coconut shell perfectly molded to her hands, she demonstrates how she shapes a clay vessel — talking all the while about learning by watching her grandmother, who only stopped potting at age 98 because her family made her. Naranjo dips her fingers into a bowl of water and smooths the vessel with wet fingers while recounting her own 34-year career and her appearances at Indian Market, where pottery is highly valued. “Pottery has come a long way from being a utilitarian vessel. Our ancestors made designs because they wanted something pretty, just like we do,” she says. Naranjo says her aunt, who is also a potter, recalls the days when busloads of Indian Detours guests would arrive at the pueblo, the artists forming a semicircle around the bus and calling out “Pottery for sale!” as the tourists disembarked. The tourists would pay only pennies or a dollar for the family’s creations, her aunt remembers. “My grandmother would say, ‘You’re lucky to be potting in this time,’” Naranjo says. 40
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Clockwise this page: Tour participants walk down a road near San Ildefonso Puebloʼs Black Mesa. Madeline E. Naranjo demonstrates pottery making. Passport to Pueblo Country co-owner Deborah Torres prepares a feast day–style lunch in the family home.
Deborah climbs behind the wheel to drive us to Black Mesa, a significant place in the tribe’s history and an oft-overlooked historical landmark in the state’s past. During the Spanish reconquest of New Mexico in 1693, the people of San Ildefonso Pueblo held off Spanish soldiers by living on the mesa top for more than a year. Elmer gestures to the ravines snaking down one side — the route Puebloans used to sneak supplies to the mesa top in their cunning quest for survival. Their people endure and the Pueblo’s plaza continues to serve as the hub for its cultural rites. “Our church is the plaza,” Elmer tells us as Deborah parks at the edge of the square, anchored by a towering, centuries-old cottonwood. Elmer shows us where the original Indian Detours passengers disembarked, took a few photos with regalia-clad locals, shopped for pottery, and departed within a few minutes. Interactions were little more than photo ops, he says. The Indian Detours marketing brochures depicted these visits, displaying a photo of San Ildefonso Pueblo, with Puebloans — wearing headdresses — on the steps of a kiva that still stands today.
A Turn in Tourism
Original Indian Detours were offered at prices many travelers could afford, and the tours were flush with travelers. New Mexico History Museum librarian Kathleen Dull, who organizes the museum’s annual Fred Harvey History Weekend, observes, “Royalty and celebrities came, but the price point made it so your next-door neighbor could come . . . . All the tourist literature to that point had been bringing in people with [tuberculosis], a communicable disease. . . . Tourists were ready
The first mission church at San Ildefonso Pueblo was built in the 1600s. This version, which was rededicated in 1968, anchors one side of the plaza, where ceremonial rites are held.
for something different.” According to Dull, in 1926 alone, some 10,000 travelers took Indian Detours. To put that in perspective, the population of Santa Fe County then was around 20,000. This ocean of visitors had impacts both immediate and lasting. At a time when the new state of New Mexico was still establishing basic infrastructure, “the Harvey Company was the only public transportation there was at the time. If you wanted to go to Albuquerque or Taos, you took a Harvey bus,” Dull says. The arrival of new Harvey cars was cause for celebration, and historical photos capture the cars as they paraded around the Plaza for onlookers. Because the company’s multi-passenger buses were so long, the route up La Bajada was regraded to accommodate their turning radiuses, Dull observes. The Harvey Company operated Indian Detours for only five years, until 1931, when Hunter Clarkson and his brother Jim purchased the tour company. Jim Clarkson kept it going until the 1950s, when road maps became popular and travelers no longer needed the guide service as they once did. But the influence of Indian Detours extended beyond tour operations. The excursions played a seminal role in establishing the Southwest as a tourism destination. Dull notes, “The Harvey Company opened the state in ways that wouldn’t have been possible without the Indian Detours.” It met its match in Santa Fe, which was also one of the first cities to embrace tourism as an economic driver. The librarian says the Harvey Company strove for beneficial outcomes and cites the company’s papers, which the museum holds, as evidence. “Looking at internal documents, the tours weren’t for the company to make a lot of money. It was hoped [Indian Detours] would be an economic
infusion for everyone involved,” she says. The company paid the pueblos for every visitor, and guests were expected to compensate pueblo residents for photos and to purchase items. Dull says, “For many, this was their first and only exposure to any culture in the Southwest. The Harvey Company and AT&SF Railway chose one way [to have tourists experience New Mexico]. I can’t say if it was good or bad, but it was incredibly popular.” As we depart our reimagined Indian Detours tour, Elmer offers a blessing. The Tewa words thanking us for our visit wash over us — in his language, in his voice, about his homelands.
IF YOU GO:
Passport to Pueblo Country’s Indian Detours Reimagined depart Tuesdays and every other Saturday from La Fonda on the Plaza. The company also partners with Inn of the Five Graces and Bishop’s Lodge, Auberge Collection for its one- and multiday tours, which include more than 10 difference experiences, including dance performances, storytelling, pottery firing, breadmaking, and stargazing. It has recently added Chaco Culture National Historical Park to its list of destinations. Visit passporttopueblocountry.com to learn more about its tours. See the permanent exhibition on the Fred Harvey Company, including artifacts from Indian Detours, at the New Mexico History Museum (113 Lincoln Ave., 505-476-5200, nmhistorymuseum.org). The annual Fred Harvey History Weekend concludes November 8; check online for 2027 dates (fredharvey.info/event/history-weekend). Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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Weaving a Future
The Trujillo family evolves heritage Rio Grande weaving at Chimayó’s Centinela Traditional Arts. BY ADELE OLIVEIRA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIRA HOWARD
From left: Emily, Irvin, and Lisa Trujillo keep Chimayóstyle weaving alive at Centinela Traditional Arts.
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n a late summer morning outside Centinela Traditional Arts — a rambling atelier in Chimayó, along the High Road to Taos — long skeins of yarn the color of strong tea dry under smoke-tinged sunshine. Pushing open the front door, I’m greeted by a joyful eruption of woolly colors and textures. Following a hallway through a blue ribbon–stuffed showroom and past racks of vests, all the way to the back classroom, I find 33-year-old eighth-generation weaver Emily Trujillo instructing a small group of students, most of them decades older than she is. As they stand before their looms under bright fluorescent lights, weaving patterns into narrow wool tapestries, the students learn the same basic techniques Emily was taught by her parents, Lisa and Irvin Trujillo — the latter a descendant of one of the families that originated Chimayó-style weaving at the turn of the last century. Chimayó-style weaving derives from the Rio Grande style, which came to prominence during the 16th century and began with Old World methods and materials, namely wool from Churro sheep that arrived with Coronado in 1540. The sheep proved hardy enough to survive in their new home and became integral to the local culture and economy. Most often appearing in the form of tapestries and blankets that are longer than they are wide, Rio Grande–style weaving consists of weft-faced plain weaving (meaning the vertical warp threads are hidden in the final piece) created on a standing loom. It’s known for its instantly recognizable contrasting colors and strong graphic designs, like horizontal stripes, Saltillo patterns (vertical borders around diamond shapes), and valleros, eight-pointed star designs that emerged in the mid1800s with the arrival of Anglo-Americans. Soft-spoken and thoughtful, Irvin Trujillo explains how the 19th-century explosion of tourism and trade in Northern New Mexico affected his family’s ancestral community of weavers. For instance, during the Spanish and Mexican periods, weavers were mainly limited to black, white, and indigo wool, with a few other hues from natural dye sources. In the 1860s, with the advent of synthetic dyes and increased trade with the United States, the regional style started to change, incorporating bright colors for the first time. In addition to the aesthetic changes, Irvin explains how his family was part of a broader transition from a trade to a cash economy and how his community’s niche textiles found worldwide fame. “The industry in Chimayó started by working for people in Santa Fe,” Irvin says. “J.S. Candelario owned the Old Santa Fe Curio Shop on San Francisco Street, where they’d hand out commercially spun wool that was already dyed. Then [the weavers] would come back at the end of the month with what they’d made, to be paid in cash. My grandmother’s brother Reyes Ortega found out how to get the wool by cutting out the middleman; he bypassed Santa Fe and brought this industry to Chimayó.” (The Ortegas are Chimayó’s other most prominent weaving family.) Irvin remembers growing up in Los Alamos in the 1960s and learning how to weave by watching his father, Jacobo Ortega Trujillo, who worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory during the day and wove at night. The summer he was 10, Irvin wove 40 small pieces, which he later sold for $10 each at a Los Alamos craft fair. He also learned about other parts of the process, like how to spin carded wool into yarn using a malacate, a traditional Spanish wooden spindle. As a teenager, he experimented with natural dyes, like bright yellow blooms from autumn chamisa. Later, at a Hokona Hall basement concert in the early 1980s, when he was a budding musician/engineering student at the University of New Mexico, Irvin met Lisa (who notes that she wooed him with her record collection). In 1982, after graduation and getting married one week later, they embarked on a life of weaving together, opening Centinela.
Master weaver Irvin Trujillo prepares dye baths for wool from Churro sheep.
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Emily Trujillo keeps her inspirations (K-pop idols) close at the loom.
Chimayó-style weaving derives from the Rio Grande style, which came to prominence during the 16th century and began with Old World methods and materials, namely wool from Churro sheep that arrived with Coronado in 1540. The sheep proved hardy enough to survive in their new home and became integral to the local culture and economy.
Irvin taught Lisa how to weave, and Lisa bolstered the practical aspects of running a small company with her newly minted bachelor’s degree in business administration. The two learned together as they went, in business and in art. Irvin explains how when he started weaving, there weren’t any books about Rio Grande style. Instead, by examining textiles, he and Lisa reverseengineered a weaver’s process. “You can read weaving by looking,” Lisa explains. “Each one has a different design placement and logic.” Occasionally visitors will come with heritage weavings from their families, asking the Trujillos to date the pieces and identify techniques and designs. Irvin’s weaving grew in critical acclaim, including a Master’s Award for Lifetime Achievement from Traditional Spanish Market. His mastery of traditional technique also earned him a 2007 National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a 2015 Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. As part of that recognition, Helen R. Lucero, author of Chimayó Weaving: The Transformation of a Tradition, remarked, “Irvin has not only continued the weaving tradition in his family for seven generations, but he has reinvigorated Chimayó weaving by drawing upon his engineering and music experience to create large, richly colored, and exquisitely intricate tapestry weavings.” In Lost Paths Within the Fence, one of Irvin’s tapestries hanging in the showroom, an intricate, symmetrical border and center Saltillo are surrounded by crisscrossing bands that twist across the textile in a spectrum of colors and designs. Each stripe’s free-form directions feel almost painterly or abstract. There’s an illusion of movement captured within stasis — the ultimate example of knowing the rules so well that they can be beautifully broken with artistic intent. 44
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Lisa runs the financial side of the business and has worked with Emily to form a yarn co-op with the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center and several galleries to affordably purchase skeins in bulk. Lisa’s loom, the size of a walk-in closet, is situated in the showroom so she can work in between helping customers. Irvin describes each of their learning processes as “revivals.” Lisa notes that spinning — a practice all its own — is a central part of her process, giving her a sense of the heft and weight of the wool that’s otherwise impossible to glean. Lisa’s work tends toward intricate variations of traditional designs and complex geometric forms. One piece, Flipping Blocks, is woven in soft variegated shades of gray and brown and calls to mind the never-ending tessellated surfaces of an M.C. Escher drawing. By the 1990s, the Trujillos had two children, Adam and Emily, who were around weaving and weavers all the time, often traveling to art shows with their parents and annually to Traditional Spanish Market, which Irvin participated in for 50 years. (After marrying into the family, Lisa juried into the market for many years too, which she says was initially controversial because she isn’t of Hispanic or Northern New Mexican descent.) Over the years, the Trujillos shifted some of their focus to production weaving: smaller, less expensive pieces that help subsidize the wallsize tapestries that take months to make and cost thousands of dollars. Now Emily is taking the business back to more of an artist-driven gallery space, stepping back from production in response to market trends. In spite — and perhaps because — of her near-constant exposure to fiber art, when she was younger Emily never thought she’d make a life of weaving, instead double majoring in psychology and ethnology in college. Adam, according to his parents, has a family, a house, and a “regular job” in Albuquerque, but Emily was drawn back into weaving.
Lisa Trujillo learned to spin wool for her weavings.
“I wanted to be my own person. The only thing anyone ever cared about or asked me was, ‘Do you weave?’” Emily explains during a break from teaching. “But I like a lot of things, and I’m not just my parents’ daughter.” After college, facing several potential options and at a crossroads that could determine the direction of her adult life, she consulted Lisa’s parents in California. “I don’t know what to do,” Emily remembers telling her grandmother. “I told her weaving isn’t exactly going to impress anyone. And my grandma was like, ‘What’s wrong with weaving?’ I was like, ‘What is wrong with weaving?’ So I stayed.” While studying ethnology in college, Emily learned about endangered and extinct art forms around the planet. “They’re disappearing, and I was like, ‘Oh man. I can actually do something about mine,” she says. Estimates vary, but Emily says the guesses that there are 200 to 250 active Chimayó-style weavers are likely accurate. If the art form is lost, it becomes a relic rather than a living, evolving cultural practice that new generations of artists make their own. When she returned to studying weaving in earnest, Emily discovered she actually liked the practice, especially when she chatted with her friends (their motto: “What happens in the loom room stays in the loom room”) or listened to K-pop while slinging the shuttle back and forth. An enduring dream of Emily’s is that a K-pop star will notice her woven vests on Instagram and commission one to wear. Emily both enjoys teaching and says it’s a vital part of her career as an artist, in part because she wants to help preserve Chimayó-style weaving for another century. She teaches students of all ages and helps design class programs for others to implement. In addition to classes at Centinela, she teaches regularly in Albuquerque, Española, and Taos; gets grants for textile preservation work; and guest curates museum and gallery shows. Like Irvin before her, she often begins her classes with a short history lecture about the art form. “There will be people to pass on the technique for a little while longer, except for the fact that it’s hard to find a teacher who knows what they’re doing, and the experts aren’t gonna be around for that much longer, which is why I have so much job security,” Emily says, thinking about quiet Chimayó, where there are few employment opportunities outside of its tourist industry. Even Emily splits her time between Chimayó and Albuquerque, seeking economic and artistic opportunities beyond the bend in the road where her family houses their studio and shop. “I think in generations [weaving is] not really gonna be a thing in our culture. Kids aren’t taking it up because it’s not an economic necessity. There’s no instant gratification.”
Artistically, the Trujillo family’s output encompasses mastery of traditional designs, but when they’re innovating on or deviating from familiar forms, the work becomes especially dynamic and alive. Emily’s work marries technique with distinctly modern aesthetic sensibilities. An example is Hurt Me Less, also called her “divorce piece,” in which the energy and feelings elicited by three of her favorite K-pop songs are mirrored in the composition, a bright design rendered in undyed white, plus shades of blue, green, purple, and gray. Crisscrossed with bands of color, the tapestry’s borders are serrated lines of gray and purple. In the middle, two jagged star shapes hover between the edges, which Emily says represent her and her ex-husband’s concurrent yet separate healing journeys. Like many in her generation, she speaks with easy fluency and candid authenticity about her personal life, including mental health, neurodivergence, and how stretching the boundaries of a traditional medium as a young contemporary artist is expressed via the work itself. “My pieces are riddled with mistakes, and I’m very upfront about that. I would rather have fun and enjoy the process than weave a perfect piece,” Emily says. She expands further: “I don’t really care about competitions, and I don’t really want to be super famous, because that’s not what it’s for. When it comes to weaving, I just want to make pretty art. I only want a reputation so I can achieve my other goals, like preservation work — and getting a K-pop idol to notice my art.” Adele Oliveira grew up in Santa Fe and lives there with her family.
Centinela Traditional Arts: 946 State Road 76, Chimayó I 505-351-2180 I chimayoweavers.com Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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EAT & DRINK
After two dark years, Santa Fe’s storied Sena Plaza restaurant reopens with deco flourishes, a reworked Southwest menu, and a bar built for the neighborhood. BY LANEE LEE
S
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOUGLAS MERRIAM
tep through the gate off East Palace Avenue and the courtyard looks as it did before its landmark restaurant went dark: flagstone underfoot, the portal shading a centuries-old adobe, and the Cathedral Basilica glowing gold across the street at dusk. Push through the doors of the new La Casa Sena, however, and the room no longer resembles the restaurant of memory. The old yellow-and-red dining room is gone, replaced by moody dark green velvet chairs and a chandelier of hand-blown glass green chiles overhead. A single glass dandelion, backlit, hangs above some tables. Off the main floor, a onetime overflow room is now an intimate VIP hideaway called the Raven Room, with four back-to-back banquettes done in dark blue with red velvet accents, paired with black marble tables that feature a gold band. The bold, luxurious surrounds are far from the hushed, minimalist dining ambience Santa Fe is used to. It is louder, warmer, stranger — exactly what new owner Andy Barnes wants. “I decided to go against that trend,” Barnes says of the restaurant industry’s slide toward beige and blond wood. He calls his look nouveau deco: art deco filtered through 2026. “I went absolutely crazy,” the owner of Dinner for Two admits, laughing.
Historical and Whimsical
Sena Plaza was staging Santa Fe’s public life long before it had a restaurant. One of Santa Fe’s oldest surviving hacienda-style adobe properties, it traces its hospitality roots to territorial-era patriarch José Sena Sr., a Civil War veteran whose family expanded their adobe home into a 33-room hotel in 1868. By 1927 the courtyard was fully exposed, creating the space guests experience today. La Casa Sena opened in 1983 and became one of the city’s signature restaurants, its patio famous for long lunches and its cantina staffed by singing servers who broke into Broadway numbers between courses. These traditions continued until the restaurant shuttered in 2024. Barnes purchased the restaurant in summer 2025 and set about revitalizing it — a lengthy and much-anticipated project thanks to bureaucratic delays. (At the time of this writing, the restaurant expected a fall opening, though the date was not yet set.) Barnes had every intention of hiring a designer for the $300,000, top-to-bottom renovation — until his fiancée talked him out of holding back. “Everybody always really enjoys your style, and there are a lot of people who imitate it,” he recalls her telling him. “So why don’t you do it yourself?” For the art, Barnes brought in local painter McCreery Jordan, whose large-format canvases — some 8 feet tall — give each room its own mood: 46
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Giant, dramatically lit three-dimensional faces peer over the 14-foot-high bar; a flock of ravens watches over the Raven Room; a mystical white horse frames the fireplace. Champagne-colored feather chandeliers and candleholders with a golden bunny climbing the side further punctuate Barnes’s penchant for elegant whimsy. Keep your eyes peeled for more playful “Easter eggs,” like the goose bathroom faucet that appears to regurgitate when you turn on the water. “I’m adding more cute little things all the time,” Barnes says.
A Southwest Menu, Elevated
In the kitchen, Barnes brought in Rony Gutierrez — his chef of 16 years at his elegant bistro Dinner for Two, known for local fare and a well-curated wine list — to rebuild the menu from scratch, infusing southwestern flavors. The previous red chile enchilada, Barnes says, was “very onedimensional”— chile, chicken stock, onion, and garlic. Full stop. Gutierrez’s offerings go deeper: red and green chile enchiladas, road-tested as weekend specials at Dinner for Two, and whole chickens roasted to order. The menu also features a steak with a béarnaise-leaning sauce, doublecooked fries built to stay crisp, borracha mussels — “drunk” mussels braised in white wine — and a red chile–glazed salmon. Produce comes largely from grower Mario Hernandez in Moriarty, who has expanded his farm to keep pace with orders for tomatoes, squash, and edible flowers. Fresh-baked focaccia and sourdough come from pastry chef David Flores, a Santa Fe native by way of Bishop’s Lodge, where Barnes first met him. “I miss bread service, and I’m bringing it back,” Barnes says. Flores’s trompe l’oeil desserts — “illusion desserts” as Barnes calls them; one looks like a real piece of fruit until the fork reveals mousse underneath — are the show-stopping finale to a night out at Casa Sena. The bar, informally christened Pour Decisions early on, is now The Parlor — a rename Barnes chalks up to practicality. “We thought with the name Pour Decisions, it wouldn’t be ideal for weddings,” he says with a chuckle. Barnes originally pictured the space as more of a nightspot, with regular live music and late hours. He’s scaled that back to an events room built for birthday parties and rehearsal dinners, accommodating 120 for cocktails and 70 for a seated dinner. When there’s not an event booked, it reverts to a reasonably priced happy hour space. Behind the bar, Abraham Martinez, recruited from the Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe, has built a tequila- and mescalforward list of clarified, batched drinks — a chocolate-infused mescal cocktail is among them — built for speed once the room fills. Barnes’s purchase agreement included the roughly 3,000-squarefoot former La Casa Sena Wine Shop next door, with high-end inventory worth close to half a million dollars. Renamed Andy’s Liquors and Fine Wines, the shop now leans into tequila, bourbon, and other spirits. There’s also a discount section as well as canned cocktails and wines deliverable to nearby hotels and vacation rentals by DoorDash — a first for the neighborhood. The shops around Sena Plaza eagerly welcome the return of the anchor restaurant after more than two years without the benefit of its foot traffic. Although his approach to the space, menu, and cocktail list is completely fresh, Barnes never considered changing the local institution’s name. “That’s what Santa Fe is about: history, tradition” he says. What he does want for the new La Casa Sena, unapologetically, is spectacle: “a dining room like nobody’s ever seen in Santa Fe.” La Casa Sena: 125 E. Palace Ave. I 505-988-9232 I newlacasasena.com
Opposite page: La Casa Senaʼs new owner Andy Barnes oversaw a renovation of the restaurantʼs interiors, which now include original paintings by McCreery Jordan and whimsical details. This page: The reimagined menu now includes Mejillones Borachos — borracha mussels in white wine with Spanish chorizo and tomatoes — and steak frites with red chile–glazed flank steak with a chimichurri béarnaise sauce.
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EAT & DRINK
Tastemakers
Late fall and winter may be the sweetest seasons — especially if these three talented pastry chefs have anything to say about it. Meet the dessert masters sating Santa Fe’s sweet tooth. AS TOLD TO LANEE LEE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABRIELLA MARKS
Rebecca Freeman Founder, Worn Whisk Bakery Rebecca Freeman has been plating elegant, altitude-tested desserts in New Mexico for a more than a decade. After time in the kitchens of some of Santa Fe’s best restaurants and a 2023 American Culinary Federation Pastry Chef of the Year award, she’s now plying her talents in her independent pop-up Worn Whisk Bakery.
the restaurant, the dinner menu, and what’s in season. For Worn Whisk Bakery, I get to do whatever I want. Last year I made a Cheetos-inspired cookie stuffed with dark chocolate ganache. I used nacho cheese powder so it was bright orange. Believe it or not, I sold out in a day.
You’re a Chicago native. What brought you to Santa Fe, and does it feel like home now?
I’ve been seeing a lot of fermentation processes that are usually used for savory ingredients being used in pastry. I’ve also been seeing koji on fruit, which is cool. I’m really excited about this trend. I can’t wait for this influx of sour and tangy elements to hit mainstream.
I like to tell people I came to Santa Fe on vacation and fell in love. I’ve been here 14 years — the same 14 years I’ve been with my husband. Santa Fe is my home. I can’t imagine living anywhere else. Why pastry?
I have this drawing from kindergarten. The prompt was: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. . . I couldn’t spell, so I wrote “thef” and drew myself in a toque and chef whites. There’s something special about dessert. No one needs dessert. It’s always extra. It’s there for your worst day and your best day. You started Worn Whisk as a pop-up — a place to be “a little bit weird.” What does that let you do that the restaurant menus don’t?
When I am designing a menu for a restaurant, I have the clientele in mind. I want guests to order my dessert, so I try to tailor my menu to 48
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Corn has had its moment in desserts. What’s the next weird ingredient?
Name one dessert that captures your style.
I think the one item that brings my whole story together is my biscochito French macarons. I am a classically trained pastry chef living in Santa Fe — those two sides come together so perfectly [in this dessert]. It is a classic almond French macaron filled with a light anise white chocolate ganache and then dipped in cinnamon sugar. You can find them at my next Worn Whisk Bakery pop-up. Worn Whisk Bakery: wornwhiskbakery.com Rebecca Freeman at Time Travelerʼs Gastropub with (from top) a pistachio princess cake featuring a fig leaf sponge, raspberry jam, pistachio pastry cream, and pistachio marzipan; and biscochito macarons
Chase Maus Pastry Chef, Paloma
Chase Maus, a Kentucky transplant and Food Network finalist, brings a self-taught, science-meets-soul approach to Paloma — which earned a recommendation from the inaugural Michelin Guide Southwest in August. He splits his focus between pastry, personal training, and hot yoga.
balanced to yield something beautiful, unique, complex. I have transformed this pie so many times over.
What brought you to Santa Fe?
Without any self-control, my pastry chef world could really do some damage to any progress I try and make both personally and professionally in the fitness realm. But being a pastry chef is wildly physical. I train to do my job, to stand on my feet all day, to lift 100 pounds of flour, or to hinge with a flat spine over a work table. It makes me mentally resilient. The kitchen doesn’t afford a lot of carelessness. You have to be locked in, focused, attentive, or it can be dangerous.
New Mexico just felt familiar. I spent time living in South America, and there is a similar ease and pace about this place that I really connect with. The desert is also really exposing — you can’t hide from much here, and I think I needed to feel that. This has been a great place to heal. What did competing on the Food Network’s Holiday Baking Championship in 2025 teach you that owning your own bakery never could?
When I owned my own bakery in Kentucky, I was so young. I don’t really feel like my food had much of an identity, and as a chef I really felt like an imposter in the industry. Making it to the competition kitchen, holding my own against other talented industry people, really made me feel like I belong, that all this effort to teach myself this trade, this art, it has all paid off and I am in fact a chef. Name one dessert that sums up your pastry ethos.
I really think my ethos is best defined by the chess pie — humble, everyday ingredients, but still quality, that are carefully handled, assembled,
You’re a pastry chef, personal trainer, hot yoga instructor — how does that combination work?
You’re working on a pie cookbook. What are you trying to say beyond the recipes?
Baking can be therapy, and we can bring our emotions to the bake itself. Who knows what the recipe process might help you discover about what you’re feeling? Where do you go in Santa Fe for dessert when someone else is baking?
Sometimes I’ll treat myself to a Saturday morning at the Bread Shop or to the pandan cake at Leo’s. I don’t often order dessert unless I feel really inspired by what’s being served because I’m always eating my own. Paloma Santa Fe: 401 S. Guadalupe St. I palomasantafe.com
Chase Maus at Paloma with (from top) a sweetened condensed milk cheesecake with Chantilly cream, guava curd, and lime; and a Mexican chocolate mousse cake with a milk-soaked chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse, chile, and sesame praline crunch
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EAT & DRINK
Ericka Rodriguez at Geronimo with (from top) a Meyer lemon tart with fresh citrus compote, Italian meringue, and yuzu white chocolate sauce; and a decadent caramelchocolate flourless cake with chocolate croquant crumble and caramel sauce
Ericka Rodriguez Executive Pastry Chef, Geronimo Ericka Rodriguez arrived at award-winning, fine-dining Geronimo in 2001 with no formal training and without speaking English. She taught herself French pastry techniques from a book she could barely comprehend at the time and has risen to the restaurant’s executive pastry chef position. How did you first get into pastry?
In 2001 an opportunity to be an assistant was presented to me at Geronimo. At the time, I had no formal experience in pastry and had no idea where this opportunity would lead me. However, pastry had always been an interest of mine, and I decided to take a leap of faith and accept the position. Learning the art of pastry is no small feat, but learning in a foreign country, not speaking the language, is another. Talk about your selftaught journey.
The journey began with a simple pastry book purchased at a small bookstore in Santa Fe. With no formal pastry training and no ability to speak or read English at the time, there was no clear path forward. As a young assistant, the role was simply to follow instructions, observe, and absorb as much knowledge as possible. Finding a pastry book in Spanish was the hope, but unfortunately that opportunity never came. Instead, the challenge became an unexpected motivation: learning English while simultaneously learning the fundamentals and techniques of French pastry. 50
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How do you decide where dessert fits into a menu that’s already borrowing from everywhere?
A great pastry chef is not defined simply by the ability to follow a recipe but by the ability to understand the craft deeply enough to create one. Understanding the culinary arts, the science behind the ingredients, and the artistry behind the finished product provides the freedom to create something uniquely personal. Geronimo’s Meyer lemon crepe comes with its own shot of limoncello on the side. What’s the thinking behind that pairing?
The crepe is also paired with a Meyer lemon curd, and the goal was to complement its delicate fragrance with a smooth liqueur. Limoncello, with its bright and aromatic notes of fresh lemon peel, provides the perfect balance to the dessert. It can be enjoyed on its own as an accompaniment or poured directly over the crepe, allowing the flavors to come together beautifully. Name one dessert that best captures your style.
The Apple is a realistic green apple that has become one of the most distinctive and memorable desserts of my career. It is crafted with a delicate white chocolate mousse, a fresh apple caramel compote, and a vanilla bean white chocolate coating that is carefully molded to re-create the natural shape and appearance of an apple. It has become a true favorite among loyal regulars at Geronimo. Geronimo: 724 Canyon Road I 505-982-1500 I geronimorestaurant.com
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
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MAKERS
The Beauty of Life
These three artisans draw inspiration from full lives outside the studio. BY KELLY KOEPKE PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABRIELLA MARKS
Creative artisans thrive in New Mexico’s rich and evolving maker community by showcasing their unique talents and stories. From leatherwork and illustration to pottery, these three makers draw inspiration from their backgrounds, nature, and heritage techniques. Together they exemplify a passion for craftsmanship and a dedication to meaningful creation, celebrating both individual artistry and soulful expression that blends art and function.
Scott Horn in his Santa Fe studio at Collect
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MAKERS Scott Horn Leather
Scott Horn says his talent for leatherworking skipped a generation, something he didn’t know until he inherited his grandfather’s tools in 2009. Horn, who holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater design from the University of Kansas, was living in Dallas when his dad gifted him a shoebox full of tools. Although he was engaged in creating mixedmedia works, sculpture, and large-scale installations, “those tools sparked something in me. As soon as I picked up a tool, I found my purpose.” To teach himself leatherworking, Horn read through 1960s Tandy Leather instruction books, though their western-style patterns didn’t connect with him. “I wanted to pull leatherwork into the 21st century by taking traditional tools and techniques and coming up with something new that felt ‘of the city’ and younger. I would rather do things basically wrong and learn to do it my own way. That creates my own distinctive voice,” he says. In Santa Fe since 2020, Horn finds inspiration from baroque, rococo, and arabesque scroll patterns and the geometry of the art deco school. His background in theater, visual arts, and art history also informs his edgy bags, belts, harnesses, and accessories like keychains. Fashion inspires his color palette. “I love looking at the fashion world — Vivienne Westwood, Gaultier, and other couture designers. My other influences come from music like Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, old punk, and Bauhaus bands,” he says. The leather for each handmade piece comes from Wickett & Craig, one of only two natural tanneries in the United States. Horn praises the slow, natural process of vegetable tanning over using chemicals to speed the process. “Chromium is a really nasty chemical and super pollutes the water,” he explains. “The traditional way uses oak bark, and the hides spend weeks in the vats. That difference means the leather costs quite a bit more but has a much smaller environmental footprint. And it’s just better; speeding up is just not as good. Really good leather ages and patinas beautifully.” Horn also hand-dyes and finishes his pieces using water-based dyes, beeswax, and oils, all of which are nontoxic. For items worn next to the skin, like cuffs or harnesses, he thinks that’s important. Collect, the Santa Fe brick-and-mortar gallery and shop he operates with his partner, Christina Swilley, offers the widest selection of his stock. Swilley also curates a beautiful selection of items from other makers alongside his creations. He keeps his work table and a space to teach workshops in the back. “People can come and see me work and see works in progress. It has a really different impact, because it’s a dying craft and people don’t understand what leatherwork entails,” he observes. Shop Scott Horn Leather in person at Collect (343 W. Manhattan Ave.) or online at scotthornleather.com. 54
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Scott Horn partners with Christina Swilley on Collect, where he showcases his hand-tooled leather bracelets, bags, and more.
Jen Fox Studio
If you’re looking for Jen Fox, try one of the bosque paths along the Rio Grande or a trail in the Sandia Mountains foothills where she makes her home in Albuquerque. She walks in one of these places with her two dogs most days and soaks in the scenery. “How can I not be inspired by the nature that’s in my backyard? Yesterday I saw three hawks swoop overhead and five coyotes. Just being out in nature is very inspiring. I take a lot of photos of wildflowers or texture combinations like feathers with intricate patterns that are almost architectural. I love the tree trunk textures under the bark and wispy seed heads backlit by the sun,” she says. While she doesn’t translate those exact patterns and textures into her work, it’s easy to understand how nature influences her designs on stationery, cards, stickers, tea towels, and tote bags. Her modern color palettes and folk art designs are imaginative takes on their real-life models. “I came to folk art, colorful botanical-inspired illustrations, by accident. My great-grandfather created whimsical botanical, animal, and bird pencil drawings on lined school paper. My great-aunt distributed them to the family. One of them, from 1895, is hanging on my studio wall. I was inspired by that illustration to re-create or reimagine it with my own flair. Once I got my hands on an iPad, I was off to the races,” she says of the digital designs that reflect her Pennsylvania Dutch and Scandinavian heritage. A Pennsylvania native, Fox started as an English major at the University of Pittsburgh, then earning an interior design degree from Utah State University. She fell in love with the West after a summer in Flagstaff as an AmeriCorps forest-thinning volunteer and moved permanently to Albuquerque in 2012. She doesn’t consider herself a fine artist but rather an illustrator with an eye toward the end product. Her cards and stationery kits are bestsellers online, and she sells at holiday markets. Look for her at the String of Lights Holiday Market at the Farmers Market Pavilion on December 11. In Albuquerque, find her cards and other wares at Flyby Provisions, Duran’s Central Pharmacy, HOSTCraft, and Bookworks. In Santa Fe, try Ojo Santa Fe, the Santa Fe Botanical Garden, El Zaguan, Hacer, and Museum of New Mexico Foundation shops. Her cards aren’t holiday specific, but some lend themselves to seasonal purposes. She also thinks the tide is changing back to writing by hand — as the number of her monthly stationary kit subscribers attests. “There’s a whole push for things that are more analog right now. I like to think that people are beginning to realize the importance of writing letters and cards,” she says. Shop Jen Fox Studio online at jenfoxstudio.com.
Jen Fox displays her greeting cards and more in her Albuquerque studio.
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MAKERS Red Sky Pottery
Teaching pottery classes is a wonderful surprise every time to Maria J. Evans, proprietor of Red Sky Pottery. “I get excited that people are coming. To welcome them and share something I love is a resoundingly positive experience for me and the guest,” she says. “I know that it is influencing my own work because I look over at the shelf of student work and think that they don’t know the rules to follow . . . while I’m spending enormous time refining a curve or wall. I constantly wonder how to bring that freedom and play back to my work, to continue listening to the voice of the clay.” Decidedly not a production potter, Evans is more of a philosopher working through clay. She sees her refined, handmade practice as a balance in which she creates art pieces; fulfills commissions for tableware, large vessels, and bowls; and then slows everything down to recharge by teaching. Originally from northern New Hampshire, Evans moved to Santa Fe sight unseen in 2011 from Mount Desert Island off the coast of Maine. The first week she arrived, she went skiing and connected with her new home. “I didn’t even know we had a ski hill!” she says. “Then I skied powder, and with the sun setting, the snow turned hot pink. My friend wound up hating it, but I loved it.” Evans also came to ceramics in a roundabout way. Her degree from the College of the Atlantic is in human ecology, exploring the complex relationships between people and their natural, social, cultural, and technological environments. In Santa Fe she took a class from Theo Helmstadter at Green River Pottery to learn the basics, finding the complex interplay of medium and maker drawing her to clay. Since then, she’s learned through trial and error, always seeking the balance of beauty, form, and function. In late 2018 she opened her own studio, where she prefers to engage customers by appointment and offer private classes. A natural observer, Evans spends much of her time contemplating, whether while skiing, biking, or in the studio. “Here, my inspiration is outside the studio. The richer my life outside is, the richer my work becomes,” she says of her form-driven aesthetic, with restrained surfaces designed to not compete with their glazes. “I once walked past a family outside eating on a table lit with candles. Then I realized how rarely we live with candlelight, so I made candlesticks for a while. I try to enrich myself with a story, a person, a place, with as many experiences as I can. And I want people to have a personal connection to my work too, for it to stand alone and be an object of presence but also of use.” Shop Red Sky Pottery in person (by appointment) at 1519 Upper Canyon Road, Studio 6, and online at redskypottery.com. Maria J. Evans in her Santa Fe ceramics studio, Red Sky Pottery, with recent creations
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GALLERY GUIDE
Ref lections of the Season
These six galleries’ late fall and early winter exhibitions mark milestone anniversaries, present affordable works for gifting and collecting, and — above all — celebrate the vast artistry of the City Different.
Tracy King: Afterwood; acrylic, pastel, and charcoal; 48 x 48 inches
ViVo CONTEMPORARY
Set on Canyon Road, this art hub showcases the work of nine local contemporary artists. Opening November 18, Extended Visions highlights a vibrant range of abstract and mixed-media works that capture the innovative spirit of Santa Fe, including colorful abstract paintings by Norma Alonzo, nonobjective mixed-media constructions by Ilse Bolle, mixed-media paintings by Tracy King, luminous kiln glass landscapes by Barrie Brown, and abstract oil paintings by Gary Oakley. The exhibition closes January 19, 2027. Join the artists for a reception on November 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. 725-A Canyon Road
505-982-1320
vivocontemporary.com
Patrick McGrath Muñiz: Entre Tierras, oil on canvas, 45 x 65 inches
EVOKE CONTEMPORARY
Set in the Railyard, Evoke Contemporary explores bold and thoughtprovoking contemporary art with exhibitions such as Nicholas Herrera’s Cruisin’ New Mexico. On view through November 21, the show explores the santero’s skills through the lens of automotive culture and metalwork. Herrera blends centuries-old spiritual traditions with the aesthetics of lowriders via intricate sculptures forged from salvaged car parts, vintage grilles, and recycled farm implements. Symbolist painter Patrick McGrath Muñiz, whose work is also featured in the Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum’s simultaneous exhibition Nuevos Dioses (see the calendar beginning on page 17), presents an exploration of devotional art in the age of artificial intelligence. Opening with a reception on November 27 from 5 to 7 p.m. and on view through December 19, Otros Dioses reimagines old vessels, new gods, colonial saints, and consumer icons to conjure the deities of our technology-driven age. Finally, the gallery considers work of the late expressionist painter Louisa McElwain (1953–2013), whose deep emotional relationship with the southwestern landscape allowed her to be its visual voice. Opening December 26 from 5 to 7 p.m. and on view through March 20, Dance to the Tempo of the Evolving Day features paintings with her sensuous impasto and expressionistic marks created with her preferred “extreme” painting tool — a masonry trowel at the end of a stick. 550 S. Guadalupe St. 58
505-995-9902
WINTER LIFE 2026-27
evokecontemporary.com
Matthew Troy Mullins: Abiquiu Night, oil and mica on panel, 18 x 24 inches
HECHO A MANO
Just off the Plaza, Hecho a Mano spotlights genre-defying New Mexican and Mexican artists with two solo exhibitions on view through November 29. Assyrian and Irish artist Esther Elia’s Persian rug–inspired paintings
treat the contemporary rug as history unfolding in real time, drawing on family folklore, the aesthetics of diaspora, and the documentary tradition of Afghan war rugs. Her latest works, made while she was pregnant, become a lens for examining the pursuit of safety — how her refugee family chased a “land of safety” only to find it was never so straightforward. Another exhibition, featuring works by Santa Fe painter Matthew Troy Mullins in watercolor and acrylic ink, builds around an innate connection to the forces of nature. He merges human-made patterns derived from social constructs with the visual perception of nature, reaching for a harmony he feels contemporary culture has largely lost. The gallery follows this with a solo presentation from Martin Ferreyra and Regalos, its annual celebration of New Mexico artists, both opening December 4 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. On view through January 3, Ferreyra’s work moves fluidly across ceramics, painting, weaving, printmaking, video, and performance. Trained first as a psychologist, he treats images and symbols as the machinery through which culture and mythology build our sense of reality, and he draws on that background to investigate identity and ritual, both personal and collective. Regalos exclusively features makers who live in the Land of Enchantment. Each piece in the exhibition is 12 x 12 inches, which keeps the work affordable for gifting and for beginning or expanding your collection of original art. 129 W. Palace Ave.
505-916-1341
hechoamano.org
Jack Roth: Metafour II, 1980–1984, acrylic on canvas, 66.75 x 54 inches
Artworks: Courtesy of the artists and galleries
LEWALLEN GALLERIES
Geoffrey Gorman: Red Antlered Deer
GIACOBBE-FRITZ FINE ART
From its 1880s adobe on Canyon Road, Giacobbe-Fritz Fine Art displays an eclectic collection of artists working in a range of styles. Running through November 20, it showcases the work of Santa Fean and material sculpture artist Geoffrey Gorman in Desert Dwellers: New Marionettes from Geoffrey Gorman. In it, Gorman unveils a spirited new body of work inspired by a moment of quiet observation in a desert canyon. Known for transforming an odd assortment of lost and found objects into evocative forms, he assembles wood, hardware, tools, and discarded fragments into creatures that feel at once ancient and improvised. The result is a body of work that celebrates resourcefulness, humor, and the enduring vitality of the wild. 702 Canyon Road
505-986-1156
giacobbefritz.com
What is now LewAllen Galleries marks five decades of artistic stewardship in Santa Fe this year. Founded by Elaine Horwitch on Palace Avenue in 1976, the gallery changed hands after the art maven’s death in 1991. Her family members ran the gallery for three years before Arlene LewAllen purchased it in 1994. In 2003, life and business partners Robert Gardner and Kenneth Marvel took the helm and expanded the gallery’s presence into its 14,000-square-foot Railyard building, which has a museum feel by design. Daniel Zeese, senior gallery associate for communications and creative content, observes, “As we celebrate our 50th year of continuous operation, LewAllen Galleries remains steadfast in the ethos that has defined our program across three generations of ownership: a commitment to seeking out and exhibiting art that reflects the highest standards of aesthetic interest, beauty, and technical quality. We attribute our longevity to the tireless excellence and hard work of our outstanding artists and employees, alongside the discerning, enduring support of our collectors.” The gallery closes out its anniversary year with a trio of exhibitions. On view through November 14, an exhibition pairs Jim Rennert’s figurative bronze works — which explore urban existence, ambition, and the modern workplace experience — with Bette Ridgeway’s fluid abstract canvases. Ridgeway’s signature technique of pouring layer upon layer of transparent acrylic pigments yields vibrant, light-filled movement, creating a dynamic visual conversation between Rennert’s physical bronze forms and luminous painted color. November 13 through January 2, the gallery showcases the oil paintings of Ron Kingswood, who plies his scientific background in bird ecology and ornithology and unlearns conventional wildlife art tropes in favor of a zen-like minimalism. November 20 through January 2, view the acrylic and oil paintings of Jack Roth. A key figure in color field painting and the New York School, he synthesized calligraphic mark-making with vast, luminous expanses of color. This exhibition highlights his signature balance of athletic dynamism and serene space, featuring bold color arrangements that push the boundaries of post-painterly abstraction. 1613 Paseo de Peralta
505-988-3250
lewallengalleries.com
Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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GALLERY GUIDE This downtown gallery kicks off its 25th year in Santa Fe with a major exhibition of classic and seldom-seen photographs spanning the career and life of legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898–1995), known as the father of modern photojournalism. Opening November 27 and on view through January 21, the exhibition showcases the gallery’s specialization in 20th- and 21st-century photojournalism and humanist imagery and kicks off a year of exhibitions celebrating creative relationships that have defined the gallery’s program for more than two dozen years. Gallery owners Sidney and Michelle Monroe first met “Eisie,” as he preferred to be called, in New York City in the mid-1980s and helped organize and present the first gallery exhibition of his photographs in 1989. The encounter sparked a new path for them, and they created their eponymous gallery to uplift, support, and preserve the work of photojournalists at a time when photography was still striving to receive recognition in the art world. They continue to represent Eisenstaedt’s archives and are acknowledged experts on his life and career as one of the most published photojournalists in the world, whose iconic images included the first meeting of Hitler and Mussolini, Albert Einstein teaching at Princeton, Churchill’s campaign and reelection, and V-J Day in Times Square, perhaps his signature photograph. The 1945 image reflects his keen sense of spontaneity. — compiled by AMB 112 Don Gaspar Ave.
505-992-0800
monroegallery.com
Alfred Eisenstaedt: Churchill
CHAMA
CHRISTMAS IN THE
MOUNTAINS
DECEMBER 5-6, 2026 SATURDAY 10AM - 6PM
Santa Fe’s Only Antique Mall
SUNDAY 10AM - 4PM
C H A M A C H R I S T M A S . C O M TREE LIGHTING ! ELF SCAVENGER EXPEDITION * CHRISTMAS STORY CIRCLE HOLIDAY TRAIN SANTA’S WORKSHOP CHRISTMAS LIGHT PARADE ! HOLIDAY VENDORS ORNAMENT DECORATING COOKIE CRAWL ! CHAMA VALLEY ARTS WINTER MARKET RESTAURANT SPECIALS CHRISTMAS CAROLERS CARRIAGE RIDES * EXPLORE THE EVENT SCHEDULE , MAP & HOLIDAY VENDORS !SATURDAY ONLY *SUNDAY ONLY PARTIAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY: Village of Chama Lodgers Tax
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
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1006 Marquez Place Chama Valley
505.982.0017
santafeantiquemall.com
LIKE US ON
Artwork: Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography
MONROE GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Let Us Create Your Truly Inspired Holiday Look
Deck Your Halls with Santa Fe’s leading seasonal greenery and holiday decor experts TAOS, SANTA FE & ALBUQUERQUE 575-737-1811 REDWILLOWHOSPICE.COM
by Clemens & Associates
505-982-4005 www.mistletoesf.com Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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WINTER LIFE 2026-27
SHOP
THE SEASON FOR
GIFTING
Cross off your shopping list with warming drinks, crave-able snacks, cozy throws, and more. We won’t tell if you find a few must-haves for yourself too.
Santa Fe Popcorn
New Mexico’s official state cookie is a perennial favorite in the Land of Enchantment. This craveworthy Biscochito Bliss popcorn ($10.50 for 5.5 cups) draws inspiration from the beloved cookie’s signature flavors — cinnamon, anise, and vanilla — to offer a new twist on caramel corn. Whether you’re purchasing for yourself or someone else, Santa Fe Popcorn owners Jess and Joe Thurman recommend ordering by November 30 to ensure delivery before Christmas. Visit the City Different store in person to browse all the shop’s Santa Fe–inspired flavors. 135 W. Palace Ave., santafepopcorn.com
Santa Fe School of Cooking
New Mexican pantry staples include salt, pepper, and of course chile. Chipotle en adobo ($6.50) is one of the bestselling items in Santa Fe School of Cooking’s marketplace, which includes dry goods, chiles, posole, blue corn meal, and more to help at-home chefs add authenticity to their southwestern dishes. The shop carefully sources and packages chiles to ensure peak flavor. The chipotle en adobo — an ingredient that’s featured in many of the school’s class recipes — has a smoky flavor. The not-toospicy heat level makes it a great addition to soups, stews, sauces, and beans. 125 N. Guadalupe St., santafeschoolofcooking.com
Kate Lindsey
Curl up in a work of art with multidisciplinary artist Kate Lindsey’s Deer One jacquard woven blanket ($150). Known for vibrant abstract landscapes and whimsical animals, Lindsey draws inspiration from her Santa Fe home — as she did with this portrayal of a deer that stepped onto the road one day while she was driving home from lunch in Tesuque. “I was only five minutes away from the Plaza when this beauty appeared. The image of him stuck with me, so I took it as a sign that I needed to paint him,” she says. Lindsey says there’s something exciting about seeing her work translated into everyday, functional objects. Whether draped on a couch, chair, or bed, these recycled cotton, made-to-order blankets bring warmth, color, and joy to any room. klindsey.com
Photos: Courtesy of the shops
Raven’s Woodturning
Serve in style with hardwood bowls that make a handsome and functional addition to any kitchen. Hand-assembled and hand-turned by Jeremy and Kayleigh Valentine in their Tijeras woodshop, these maple and walnut bowls are offered in 10-inch, 12-inch, and 14-inch sizes ($85–$190) and are perfect for salads, chips, fruit, popcorn, and more. The natural wood grains and handmade approach make each bowl unique. They are finished with nonallergenic walnut oil and a food-safe wood polish. Cherry and walnut bowls are also available. ravenswoodturning.square.site Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico Winter Guide
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SHOP
Citrus & Honey Boutique
The youngest gift recipients on your list will love cuddling up with stuffed animals from Citrus & Honey Boutique. White Rock–based Lydia Smith Duffy founded the shop in 2022 after searching to no avail for gifts for her nieces and nephews. “I started creating little stuffies for them and eventually fell very much in love with the creating process. Every little stuffed friend is handmade uniquely,” she says. Figures such as bears, whales, and octopuses range in size from 3 to 30 inches ($12–$60). Look for Citrus & Honey at holiday markets in Santa Fe; it has previously shown at the String of Lights Holiday Market. Instagram commissions are also welcome. @citrushoneyboutique
Cool climes call for cozy drinks, and Chai Chai Love’s original mushroom chai ($39 for 30 servings) blends warming spices with functional nutrition. Gurumustuk Khalsa has lived in New Mexico for 30 years but drew upon his childhood in India to create this chai, which is centered around spices — ginger, cardamom, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, and others — that have long been valued in Ayurvedic traditions. The Assam black tea plays a smaller role. He says functional mushrooms — lion’s mane, reishi, chaga, and cordyceps — also make this chai unique and healthful by enhancing energy, focus, immunity, and gut health. But Khalsa has more in mind with this drink than physical health. “There’s another part of the brand that’s just as important to me: encouraging people to slow down and take care of themselves. I intentionally didn’t want to make an instant drink. The process of simmering the chai is part of it — a few minutes to pause, smell the spices, make something for yourself, and step out of the rush of the day.” chaichai.love — compiled by AMB 64
WINTER LIFE 2026-27
Photos: Courtesy of the shops
Chai Chai Love
Opens November 21 2 2 ,
Learn more at gokm.org/exhibitions
Museum Galleries | Santa Fe, M | 0 -946-1000 | gokm.org Tony Vaccaro. O’Keeffe listening to Madrigals, 1960. Gelatin silver print, 15 3/16 × 19 13/16 in. Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Museum Purchase. © Estate of Tony Vaccaro. [2007.3.16]
What’s better than a day in Santa Fe? A life in Santa Fe.
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