Santa Fe - A City of the Arts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 by Barbara Harrelson
. . . any one of these beautiful arroyos and canyons is a living example of the splendor of the ages . . . as for the color, it is of course the only place in America where true color exists, excepting the short autumnal season in New England.
Marsden Hartley (1877-1943), painted in New Mexico in 1918-1919
New Mexico has been casting its spell on artists of all kinds for centuries. Many of the European-American artists, writers and expatriates who came here in the early part of the twentieth century decided to remain, drawn by the region’s natural beauty and cultural richness.
Art in New Mexico, however, was being produced many years before the twentieth century. The indigenous peoples of this region created pots and baskets as functional household objects—the predecessors of today’s cherished pottery and fine basketry. The Spanish colonists’ early crafting of religious art objects and furniture arose out of necessity, but led to the development of arts and crafts that are prized by collectors today.
Both of these early art traditions evolved, often influencing one another, to produce the variegated wealth of Southwest and contemporary art now being created by regional artists for world markets.
In fact, New Mexico’s first “artist colony” was neither the storied Taos Society of Artists nor the Cinco Pintores. According to Joseph Traugott, curator of 20th-century art at the New Mexico Museum of Art, “. . . the first artist community in the Southwest was actually at the Hopi pueblos. The community started around the potter Nampeyo in the 1890s and expanded to include basket makers and weavers, and these goods went into outlets of the Fred Harvey Company and venues along the Santa Fe Railroad.”
Santa Fe’s beginning as a center for 20th-century contemporary art coincides with the opening of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1917. New Mexico’s most famous contemporary artist, Georgia O’Keeffe, began painting her desert images in the late 1920s, but, ironically, little of her work was displayed in Santa Fe until the opening of the O’Keeffe Museum in 1997.
Today, Santa Fe is recognized as one of the most important art centers in the United States with a global presence and an ever changing kaleidoscope of artists, galleries, art fairs and museums—all contributing to the rich arts and culture economy of New Mexico and its capital city.
The most striking change, however, in Santa Fe’s visual arts market in the past 30 years is the growth in contemporary art, especially in the high-end, serious contemporary art market. Estimates are that almost one-half of the city’s galleries now deal in contemporary art—with at least a dozen that either have a presence in New York or are well connected to its cutting-edge, global art scene. The 1995 founding of SITE Santa Fe, a museum dedicated to contemporary art, and Art Santa Fe, an international art fair—both still thriving—are evidence of Santa Fe’s presence in this important art market.
Yes, you can still find traditional Western and Native American art in Santa Fe, along with all kinds of “outsider art” and mixed-media objects—everything from the “ridiculous to the sublime.”
On Canyon Road alone, a one-mile walk encompassing about 80 of the area’s 200+ galleries, one could find: nineteenth century Plains Indians moccasins, abstract expressionist paintings, handmade jewelry of various precious metals, Tibetan Buddhist arts, twelfth century Anasazi pottery, kinetic sculpture, Ming Dynasty urns, traditional cowboy art and sculpture—and much more.
However, Canyon Road is no longer the only place in town that specializes in art. New clusters of fine art galleries and arts-related businesses have grown up in the Railyard district, along Guadalupe Street. Other art districts in Santa Fe include Baca Street (which may eventually merge with the Railyard district) and Second Street, south of downtown Santa Fe.
In addition to the visual arts, Santa Fe is blessed with a bounty of performing arts, a thriving literary tradition, and culinary richness—all combining to make Santa Fe the first UNESCO-designated Creative City in North America in 2005.
By the time the Cincos Pintores had made a name for themselves, Easterners had been coming to Santa Fe for 100 years, beginning with the opening of the Santa Fe Trail in 1821. Mexico had gained its independence from Spain in that same year, allowing Santa Fe, now part of Mexico, to become a major trading center. Centuries of Spanish-imposed isolation ended and new influences from other European settlers of the young America came to Santa Fe. It was the time of “Manifest Destiny” and a new breed of pioneer (called Americans or Anglos) came to Santa Fe—first by wagon train and then, by rail, with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.
These major developments, including New Mexico’s becoming a territory of the United States in 1846, led to another expansion in the early twentieth century, when a businessman named Fred Harvey began an enterprise that many call the “invention of tourism in the Southwest.”
Harvey admired the arts and crafts of the Southwest Indians. He believed that Americans would not only want to acquire authentic Indian pottery, jewelry and rugs but would also like to see these objects being made by the natives on their own lands. He partnered with the Santa Fe Railway, building a series of restaurants and hotels along the rail route, taking care that the architecture represented the best of the Southwest. Many of these famous Harvey hotels have been preserved. La Fonda Hotel in Santa Fe, purchased by Harvey in 1926, is an example. El Tovar at the Grand Canyon also survived.
Harvey engaged New Mexico writer and tour operator Erna Fergusson to train tour guides to escort visitors out to the Pueblos and reservations, ensuring appropriate behavior. “Indian Detours” was the name of the tour company that made it possible for many visitors to be welcomed, for the first time, on Indian lands.
Among the writers who lived in Santa Fe at this time were the poets Witter (Hal) Bynner and Alice Corbin Henderson, along with authors Mary Austin and Oliver LaFarge. Many of these writers and artists helped preserve some of the region’s historic churches, including the Santuario at Chimayó, and established the Historic Santa Fe Foundation. They, along with architect John Gaw Meem, are credited with the historic preservation movement that resulted in the Spanish Pueblo Revival style of architecture which predominates in New Mexico’s capital today.
A review of Santa Fe’s historical traditions must include the beloved and time-honored celebrations of the Christmas season. Las Posadas celebrates the re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter upon their arrival in Bethlehem. Crowds follow Mary and Joseph from house to house on the Plaza in the outdoor play, followed by refreshments at the Palace of the Governors.
Christmas Eve in Santa Fe is aglow with thousands of farolitos, simple brown bags filled with Santa Fe sand and a votive candle. These unique little lanterns line the streets and garden walls of historic neighborhoods along Canyon Road and the Acequia Madre. During the traditional Christmas Eve Walk, throngs of residents and visitors marvel at the spectacle of the Holy Night, drinking hot cider and singing carols under the star-filled New Mexico skies.
Yes, the world of Santa Fe’s arts and culture is exciting, inspiring, and ultimately life-affirming. The ability of art (of all kinds) to heal and resonate within each of us is well expressed by Frederick Turner, a Santa Fe resident and author of In the Land of Temple Caves: Notes on Art and the Human Spirit (2004).
“The imaginative impulse survived the environmental changes of the ending of the Ice Age . . . and it has survived every other crisis, natural or manmade,” Turner reassures us, adding that, “It survived the savagery and pillaging of the Crusades, the Black Death, the ... best efforts of the Nazis ... global warfare and weapons of mass destruction.”
And, it is everywhere present today.