Category: ARTS & CULTURE

The Santos of Millicent Rogers Museum

By Ellen Miller-Goins

Inside Millicent Rogers Museum, carved saints gaze quietly from gallery walls and display cases. Some appear stern; others, tender. Their painted robes glow in deep reds, blues and golds, their surfaces worn with the patina that comes from time, touch and devotion. Together, these bultos and retablos form one of the most significant public collections of Northern New Mexico santos in the world.

This is not a gallery to rush through. The best way to experience it is slowly, allowing your eyes to settle on the details: a saint’s face softened by age, the faint crackle of gesso, the brushwork along a sleeve, the way wood grain emerges through paint — a quiet reminder that these images begin as something living.

For those who grew up here, santos may feel as familiar as weathered adobe and cottonwoods lining an acequia. They appear in homes, chapels and churches, serving not only as works of art but as companions in prayer and daily life. In many families, they are passed down through generations, carrying both spiritual and personal histories.

At the Millicent Rogers Museum, that living connection remains central. “Part of what is so significant and rich about the santo tradition is the reference to the masters,” says Claire Pelaez Motsinger, museum curator. “These compositions and approaches are still being used in the contemporary tradition.”

The forms themselves are simple to define, yet impossible to reduce. Bultos are carved wooden figures. Retablos are painted panels, often displayed on household altars or in churches and chapels. Both are created by santeros — artists who have shaped a distinctly Northern New Mexico tradition over centuries, tracing back to the colonial period.

Spanish missionaries introduced Catholic imagery as a way to teach religious stories. Over time, local artisans adapted these forms. Early santeros worked with what the land provided — cottonwood roots, ponderosa pine, natural pigments and piñon sap varnish. The results are not polished European icons, but something more immediate and human: sacred images shaped by local hands, knowledge, and devotion.

The Millicent Rogers Museum is one of only a handful of institutions with a collection of this scale. “We are one of eight museums that have more than 100 Northern New Mexico santos in their collection,” Pelaez Motsingers says. “It’s a very small group of institutions that represent this work on that scale.”

That breadth allows the museum to tell a more complete story. The exhibit is divided between historic and contemporary traditions, revealing both the roots and evolution of the form. Earlier pieces reflect Spanish colonial influence, while more recent works show how artists continue to reinterpret the tradition today.

Spend time in the gallery, and the distinctions begin to blur. Across centuries, the same gestures repeat: hands raised in blessing, eyes lifted upward, bodies carved with quiet intensity. What changes is not the purpose, but the artist’s voice.

“The museum demonstrates not just the objects, but a real sense of place,” Pelaez Motsinger says.

That sense of place is everywhere — in the materials, in the forms, even in the gallery itself. The rooms echo the textures and tones of Northern New Mexico, grounding the collection in the landscape that shaped it.

Santeros, past and present, are valued not only for their craftsmanship but for their devotion. Their work reflects a tradition that remains very much alive. Santos are not separate from everyday life. They are part of it. They have been handled, prayed to, repaired and passed down. They are artworks, certainly. But they are also reminders of a living tradition.

For many who pass through the gallery, the experience is not only visual. It is deeply human.

A Museum Rooted in Place

The Millicent Rogers Museum, founded in 1956 by Paul Peralta-Ramos (one of Rogers’ sons), includes 15 galleries arranged around a central courtyard in a hacienda-style layout.

“It’s a home-like feeling combined with a formal museum setting,” says Claire Pelaez Motsinger. “We try to balance those two things.” One of the first stops for many visitors is the pottery gallery, anchored by the work of Maria Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo. The museum’s collection traces the arc of her career, from early polychrome and redware to the iconic black-on-black pottery she developed with her husband, Julian, and later continued with her family.

Nearby galleries expand that story of place and tradition. The museum holds more than 7,000 objects, including Native American art, jewelry, textiles and Hispanic devotional works, offering a broad view of the cultures that shape Northern New Mexico. The museum is moving toward a more focused exploration of the cultures it represents, while continuing to refresh galleries and rotate objects.

“We represent Hispanic and Native traditions in the area,” Pelaez Motsinger says. “That’s really where deeper education can happen.”

Following the death of executive director Karen Chertok, the museum is in the process of hiring new leadership, with a new executive director expected soon.

Millicent Rogers Museum

1504 Millicent Rogers Rd, El Prado

575-758-2462

millicentrogers.org

Millicent Rogers Museum to host a tribute to promising Taos Pueblo artist

By Rick Romancito

The art of an emerging Taos Pueblo artist whose life was tragically cut short is on display in a tribute exhibition — “Honoring the Life and Work of DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo” — at the Millicent Rogers Museum.

The artist of Diné and Taos Pueblo heritage created work that “reflected the cultural significance, aesthetics, and strength of her communities,” a museum statement reads. She was by all accounts a rising star in the art world.

Then, on Nov. 13, 2021, Suazo’s life was cut short at the hands of her boyfriend, Santiago Martinez, who later was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. The sentence drew widespread disappointment from DeAnna’s family and supporters who publicly stated it did not reflect the severity of the crime, a TV news report stated.

The daughter of well-known artists Gary David Suazo of Taos Pueblo and Geraldine Tso of the Navajo Nation, DeAnna, 29, began making art at an early age, according to an article by this writer in the June 2024 edition of Trend Magazine. One of her fondest memories is from the time she attended the Taos Pueblo Head Start program as a young child.

“We were drawing on the floor with crayons and I remember one of the teachers was like, ‘Oh wow, DeAnna, you put a neck on your person!’ And, for some reason, that memory always stuck. Why wouldn’t you put a neck on a human figure?,” she said. “My art now is about Indigenous women present today, so what I’m doing is incorporating traditional attire — of course, it’s pre-contact attire.”

“I’m Taos Pueblo and Navajo, but we’re also very modern and know how to balance the two,” she said.

DeAnna graduated from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in the spring of 2021 with a degree in studio arts. She also was admitted to IAIA‘s inaugural “MFA in Studio Arts” cohort in Summer 2021.

“DeAnna loved celebrating her Diné and Taos Pueblo heritage and creating art that reflected Pueblo cultural significance and aesthetics,” reads a statement from IAIA issued upon her passing. “Inspired by heroic figures of Japanese manga novels, including Sailor Moon, she imbued her work with memory, resilience and good intentions. Her most recent work emphasized figural paintings of strong Indigenous women that, in her words, ‘grind every day for a better community.’”

Her father said a small posthumous show at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque drew huge crowds, many of whom left comments like, “I’m so glad someone finally is doing something with pop culture for Native Americans. I loved the girl with the bubble gum. I loved the sunglasses.”

DeAnna showed artwork at the Southwest Association for Indian Arts Market (SWAIA) for over a decade. She was also a featured artist at many national art markets including the Heard Museum Indian Market and Fair, the Autry Museum Artist Market and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian Artist Market. She was a SITE Santa Fe Scholar and a 2021 Taos Fine Arts Visionary Artist.

“She will be remembered as a dedicated student, a devoted friend, a kind person, and a passionate artist whose creativity knew no bounds,” the statement concludes.

In downtown Taos, anyone driving along Civic Plaza Drive will be reminded of her as one of the images on a mural painted on the south wall of the University of New Mexico-Taos’ Rio Grande Hall. The “Historical Women of Taos” mural by renowned artist Jenny Ustick also features images of ancestral matriarch María Rosa Villalpando, historic preservationist Cleofas Martinez Jaramillo and philanthropist Helene Wurlitzer. The mural was unveiled in May of 2022.

Inspired by her sister Shaundine, DeAnna began making drawings at an early age that reflected her interests in the world around her, “making them to her style,” her mom, Geraldine Tso, said. “She just did what she wanted.” Starting with small drawings, she eventually wanted to do larger and larger pieces. “I just let her go with it,” Tso said.

As one would expect, losing her daughter in an act of violence affected her deeply. “It struck me really hard when I was first told by Shaundine who called me early that morning,” she said. “All I could think was a beautiful girl has been taken away. It hurt a lot.”

“To this day, I feel very sad that she’s gone. I always wait for her to come through the door and say, ‘Hi mom!’”

Honoring the Life and Work of DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo

Exhibition continues through March 1, 2027. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Tuesday. General admission is $20, with $15 admission daily for veterans, students, and seniors (65+). Taos County residents receive free entry to the museum every Sunday. Free daily admission for children under 6, museum members, and tribal members.

Visit millicentrogers.org for updates about this exhibition and for winter hours.

Some of the town’s most remarkable art lives far beyond museums

By Haven Lindsey

In Taos, art is not always where you expect it. Yes, there are museums. Yes, there are galleries. But some of the most remarkable collections in town hide in places many visitors never think to look: hospital corridors, an active volunteer firehouse and even the restrooms at The Blake at Taos Ski Valley.

Inside Holy Cross Hospital, a quiet surprise stretches along the hallways: an art collection with well over 450 works. Paintings, photography, sculpture and mixed-media pieces line the corridors. Most pieces come from Taos artists, many of whom earn recognition far beyond Northern New Mexico.

The collection grows organically over decades as artists donate work — sometimes in gratitude, sometimes simply because art and community have always been intertwined in Taos. After all, the signpost banners declare: “Taos is Art.”

Today the result feels unexpected: a museum-scale collection embedded inside a place dedicated to healing. As visitors and patients walk the halls, they encounter landscapes, portraits and abstract works that reflect the artistic spirit of the region.

The art transforms an otherwise clinical space into something reflective, turning a simple walk down a hospital hallway into a quiet gallery experience.

If the local hospital’s art scene seems surprising, the next stop raises the element of surprise to a whole new level: the Taos Volunteer Fire Department, which may be the last place most people expect to find significant regional art.

Step inside the firehouse and the space tells a different story. Works connected to the artists who helped establish Taos as one of the most important art colonies in the American Southwest adorn the walls. Pieces by early Taos painters — including those who arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and helped define the visual language of the region — form an extraordinary and largely unseen collection.

But why the firehouse? The story behind the art is as unusual as the location. In the 1930s, fires threatened buildings around Taos Plaza, underscoring the need for an organized fire department. When the community rallied to support the effort, artists contributed paintings as part of fundraising drives.

The works never sold. Instead, the department kept them, gradually building a remarkable collection displayed inside a building dedicated to protecting the town and its residents. Over time, the firehouse became an unlikely steward of Taos art history — and likely one of the safest places for it to appear; after all, it is rare that a firehouse burns.

From one unexpected sanctuary to another, the art trail continues uphill at The Blake at Taos Ski Valley. At the hotel named after Ernie Blake, the visionary founder of Taos Ski Valley, the art collection begins the moment guests walk through the doors and continues into places few visitors expect.

Historic photographs of the pioneering Blake family and early layouts of the ski valley greet guests in the lobby. Paintings by Oscar E. Berninghaus, Walter Ufer, Ernest Martin Hennings and Georgia O’Keeffe capture the breadth of Taos’ artistic heritage. Navajo textiles, woodblock prints by Gustave Baumann and historic photographs of Taos Pueblo appear in corridors, seating areas, the spa and yes, even the restrooms, turning the entire hotel into an immersive and unexpected gallery.

The Blake offers guided art tours by appointment at no charge, inviting visitors to explore these treasures and learn their history. From classic portraits to early skiing aerials, each space tells a story of Taos past and present, proving that in this town, the unexpected appears everywhere.

In Taos, art does not stay confined to museums and galleries. Look at the signposts or the stoplight utility boxes and you will see it everywhere —part of everyday life and quietly reminding us that creativity thrives in the most
unexpected places.

By Ellen Miller-Goins

To understand Taos and Northern New Mexico, it helps to read it. At SOMOS, Taos’ literary hub, Executive Director Jan Smith and Bookshop Curator Danielle Freeman have assembled a reading list that offers a layered portrait of the region.

“Some are novels, some nonfiction, and some stories are accompanied buy photos,” Smith and Freeman said. “They each document life in Northern New Mexico in an earlier time — some more contemporary than others.”

Their selections explore “the cultural values and traditions of Northern New Mexico from different angles: fiction, historical, environmental, Pueblo life, Hispanic traditions, mystery, biography, agricultural and livestock issues.”

1. The Milagro Beanfield War

John Nichols

The first novel in Nichols’ New Mexico Trilogy tells the story of a small community’s fight to protect its water rights. When a local farmer diverts irrigaton to his beanfield, it sparks a broader resistance against development and outside control. Blending humor, activism and deep affection for rural life, the novel captures the enduring tension between tradition and change.

2. The Man Who Killed the Deer

Frank Waters

This classic novel follows a young Pueblo man whose actions set off consequences that are both legal and spiritual. Waters explores the conflict between Indigenous traditions and imposed Western systems, examining identity, responsibility and cultural balance. The story offers a thoughtful and enduring perspective on Pueblo life and values.

3. The Great Taos Bank Robbery

Tony Hillerman

In this collection of essays, Hillerman combines journalism, humor and keen observation to explore Northern New Mexico. From Crime stories to cultural insights, he captures the region’s distinctive personalities and contradictions. The results is an engaging portrait of place that is both entertaining and revealing.

4. Winter in Taos

Mabel Dodge Luhan

Luhan’s memoir reflects on Taos during the early 20th century, when artists and writers were drawn to the area. She documents a period of cultural exchange, creativity and misunderstanding, offering a firsthand account of a pivotal moment in Taos history. The book remains both a historic record and a complex personal narrative.

5. Coyota in the Kitchen: A Memoir of New and Old Mexico

Anita Rodríguez

Blending memoir, recipes and artwork, Rodríguez tells the story of family, culture and identity through food. Her writing reflects the rhythms of Northern New Mexico life, where traditions are preserved in kitchens shared across generations. The book celebrates memory, resilience and the everyday practices that sustain culture.

Explore Taos this winter through its museums, galleries, and pop-ups

By Ellen Miller-Goins

Winter in Taos brings major museum shows you can linger in for hours, intimate openings where you’ll meet the artists, and pop-up markets perfect for one-of-a-kind gifts. Bundle up, grab a cocoa, and make a loop through town — there’s fresh work on the walls all season long.

Winter’s Must-See Museums

Harwood Museum of Art. Founded in 1923, the Harwood is New Mexico’s second-oldest art museum and anchors Ledoux Street with an impressive collection spanning Hispanic devotional art to modern and contemporary works. A cultural cornerstone, the Harwood is home to Agnes Martin’s only permanent installation. 238 Ledoux St., Taos | 575-758-9826 | harwoodmuseum.org

Millicent Rogers Museum. Named for Standard Oil heiress and arts patron Millicent Rogers, MRM houses an unparalleled collection of Native American jewelry, Hispanic textiles, and Spanish Colonial art. Seasonal rotations and artist weekends keep the galleries lively. Don’t miss Rogers’ dazzling personal turquoise collection. 575-758-2462 | millicentrogers.org

Couse-Sharp Historic Site. The former homes and studios of E.I. Couse and J.H. Sharp — two founders of the Taos Society of Artists — offer a rare glimpse into the early Taos art colony. Guided tours bring visitors through preserved studios filled with original paintings, photographs, and Native artifacts. 575-751-0369 | couse-sharp.org

Taos Art Museum at Fechin House. Set in the hand-carved adobe home of Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, this museum blends architecture and art. Visitors can see Fechin’s paintings, drawings, and sculptures, along with rotating exhibits of Taos Society of Artists and contemporary work. 575-758-2690 | taosartmuseum.org

E.L. Blumenschein Home & Museum. This adobe on Ledoux Street preserves the life and work of Ernest and Mary Blumenschein, whose arrival in 1898 sparked the Taos art colony. The house remains furnished with family belongings, art, and period décor, offering a “living museum” experience. taoshistoricmuseums.org

Contemporary Currents

The Valley. The Valley on Ledoux Street champions emerging and mid-career artists — local and national — with a focus on material practices, place-based work, and conceptual depth. The gallery typically runs solo or two-person installations lasting several weeks. thevalleytaos.com

OmniHum Gallery. Part gallery, part creative salon, OmniHum on Ledoux Street blends visual art, music, and performance. Winter evenings bring cozy, small-room energy with openings and art-meets-music happenings. omnihum.art

Atelier 111. A two-level immersive space, Atelier 111 near the Plaza hosts rotating exhibitions, talks, and occasional sound-based installations — perfect for an evening gallery stop downtown. atelier111.art

203 Fine Art. Known for Taos Moderns and post-war abstraction, 203 Fine Art on Gusdorf Road typically mounts a “Winter Exhibition” spotlighting Modernist through contemporary work. 203fineart.com

Pop-Ups & Art Markets

Winter Jamboree Arts & Crafts Fair, Nov. 29–30. A lively Thanksgiving-weekend tradition at Bataan Hall (121 Civic Plaza Dr., Taos) featuring local artisans and last-minute holiday gifts.

Taos Folk Holiday Pop-Up, Nov. 18–Dec. 24. A juried seasonal shop at Stables Galley (133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos) with ceramics, textiles, jewelry, and more. taosfolk.com

Quick Route Through Historic Taos

Start on Ledoux Street, where museums and galleries cluster: the Harwood and Blumenschein anchor the block, with OmniHum and The Valley nearby. From there, wander to Camino de la Placita for Atelier 111, then head north to the Millicent Rogers Museum, Fechin House, Couse-Sharp, and finally Hacienda de los Martinez for a full circle through Taos’ art history.

Winter in Taos brings major museum shows you can linger in for hours, intimate openings where you’ll meet the artists, and pop-up markets perfect for one-of-a-kind gifts. Bundle up, grab a cocoa, and make a loop through town — there’s fresh work on the walls all season long.

How the GI Bill shaped modern art — and found a home in Taos

By Ellen Miller-Goins

When art historian and curator MaLin Wilson-Powell curated The Albuquerque ’50s at the University of New Mexico’s Jonson Gallery in 1989, she didn’t expect it to spark a lifelong pursuit. Yet while preparing the show, she became captivated by an overlooked story: the profound impact of the GI Bill on American artists after World War II.

“I thought, ‘The GI Bill was so important — I’ll go read about it,’” she recalls. “Well, there was nothing to read. No surveys, no books. So I just started collecting material, keeping files, trying to figure out who had been on the GI Bill. This exhibition — and the book — grew from that.”

That research comes full circle in Pursuit of Happiness: GI Bill in Taos, on view at the Harwood Museum of Art through March 31, 2026. The exhibition precedes the release of Wilson-Powell’s forthcoming book, The Pursuit of Happiness: American Artists, World War II, and the GI Bill, slated from the Museum of New Mexico Press.

A legacy of art, war — and opportunity

The GI Bill — officially the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 — reshaped postwar America. It offered education, housing, and business benefits to nearly 16 million returning veterans. More than eight million used it for higher education, including the arts.

“This was the first time Americans really saw each other,” Wilson-Powell says. “Only 24 percent had graduated high school before the war, and most had never traveled more than 200 miles from where they were born. Suddenly, they were all over the world — and then, with the GI Bill, all over the country. Instead of going home to pump gas, they became veterinarians, engineers, journalists — and artists.”

Unlike WPA programs, which assigned projects, the GI Bill let veterans chart their own educational paths. That freedom fueled a generation of experimental, international, and highly mobile artists.

Taos as a nexus

While much attention has been given to New York’s postwar art scene, Pursuit of Happiness turns westward, placing Taos at the center of the story.

“Taos has always been a nexus,” Wilson-Powell explains. “Artists came to see Taos Pueblo, to study with Emil Bisttram, or to attend the Mandelman-Ribak Taos Valley Art School and the UNM Summer Field School of Art. And because of the GI Bill, many of them stayed — or came back.”

The exhibition includes works by John Chamberlain, Ad Reinhardt, Lawrence Calcagno, Richard Diebenkorn, and Oli Sihvonen, alongside Taos Pueblo artist Eva Mirabal. Mirabal, a former Women’s Army Corps member, used her GI benefits to attend art school after painting Army murals. Her sharp-witted cartoon series G.I. Gertie, lampooning military bureaucracy, is also on view.

Another highlight is Janet Lippincott, a one-time Eisenhower aide and Bisttram student who pushed Southwestern art into bold abstraction, remaining under-recognized during her lifetime.

“These are not footnotes in art history,” Wilson-Powell says. “They are the story. The GI Bill created the first generation of American artists who were truly international — and many of them passed through Taos.”

More than a show

Wilson-Powell is no stranger to the Harwood. In 2016, she curated the acclaimed Mabel Dodge Luhan & Company exhibition, transforming the museum with the help of then-development director Juniper Leherissey — now Harwood’s executive director.

“She’s been behind me all the way,” Wilson-Powell says. “When I proposed that earlier show, the then-director offered one small gallery. Juniper raised all the funds and made the whole thing happen. She’s also been instrumental in bringing this current project to life.”

For Pursuit of Happiness, Wilson-Powell drew from the Harwood’s collection as well as regional and national lenders. Works are grouped by school affiliations — Bisttram’s atelier, the Taos Valley Art School, Black Mountain College, and the California School of Fine Arts — underscoring the cross-pollination the GI Bill encouraged.

Programming includes a Sept. 27 curator’s talk and gallery guide. Sponsors range from New Mexico Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts to private donors.

A book long in the making

Wilson-Powell submitted her manuscript last year, but publication has been delayed by turnover at the Museum of New Mexico Press. She’s patient. “I just want it done right,” she says.

The book profiles 30 artists and places their stories within the arc of postwar American art. It’s the first survey of its kind.

“This is history we’ve taken for granted,” Wilson-Powell says. “We’ve all heard people say, ‘My dad went to college on the GI Bill and became a doctor.’ But what about the painters, the sculptors, the teachers?”

A call for the next generation

Though her book casts a national net, Wilson-Powell hopes others will dive deeper into New Mexico’s story.

“What I’d love,” she says, “is for someone to write a book just about GI Bill artists in New Mexico. That’s still waiting to be done.”

And her dream project? “I always imagined this as a major traveling exhibition, organized by a national museum like the Whitney or the Hirshhorn,” she says. “Something that would go coast to coast, then return home — so regional museums like the Harwood could present it with work from their own collections. What we’re doing now is a step in that direction.”

Harwood Museum of Art

238 Ledoux St, Taos | 575-758-9826

harwoodmuseum.org

Why It Matters

The GI Bill didn’t just educate a generation — it reshaped American art. By funding veterans’ studies in places like Taos, it sparked bold experimentation and drew artists from around the world to Northern New Mexico. “Pursuit of Happiness: GI Bill in Taos” reveals how this postwar policy left a lasting mark on modern art — and why Taos remains a crossroads of creativity today.

Picuris Pueblo reopens its storied museum

By Olivia Lewis

At an ancestral site in Picuris, sunlight spills over the mesas as 16-year-old Braylon Quiver kneels beside a shallow pit in the earth. Dust clings to their hands as they search through layers of rock and time for remnants of their ancestors — fragments of pottery, tools, shells — each a link in a chain of memory.

“What stuck with me was it made me proud to be Picuris, because these are my ancestors — this is where they farmed, they lived and this is who they were,” Quiver says.

For Quiver, archaeology means getting waist-deep in the past to preserve Picuris history. As a student, they’ve worked alongside Barnard College archaeologists to protect ancestral sites threatened by modern infrastructure projects. “We needed clarity to make sure that if we wanted to bulldoze or dig, anything there wouldn’t be disturbed,” Quiver explains.

This summer, their work came full circle with the reopening of the Picuris Pueblo Museum and Interpretive Center — a milestone coinciding with the return of thousands of artifacts excavated in the 1960s and long housed at Southern Methodist University in Taos.

“We just started bringing things back this summer,” says museum director John Galuska. “There’s a pottery collection we brought back in its entirety, and thousands of other artifacts we’re still processing.”

Reemergence of a legacy

The Picuris Pueblo Museum first opened in 1969, displaying artifacts unearthed during excavations led by Harvard archaeologist Herbert Dick. Those digs — initially tied to installing the Pueblo’s first water and septic lines — revealed the most extensive cultural deposits of any living Pueblo community in the Southwest.

In the 1980s, the museum even housed the Hidden Valley Restaurant, part of a plan to generate revenue independent of outside funding. But over time, the building fell into disrepair, and its collection was sent to SMU for safekeeping.

Now, decades later, the museum has reemerged with a striking new exhibit, “Reemergence: Tradition and Innovation.” The dual themes reflect Picuris’ ongoing journey — rooted in ancient culture yet alive with contemporary expression.

“It’s to anchor people to history and knowledge about the origins of Picuris, then traditions, pottery and clothing,” Galuska says.

Renovations began four to five years ago with $250,000 in capital outlay funds, later bolstered by the New Mexico Tourism Department and other partners. “As the smallest Pueblo, we’re often left out,” says Lt. Gov. Craig Quanchello. “But we’re working hard to build up what so many others take for granted — like police, fire, healthcare, jobs and recreation.”

Quiver, now assistant curator, helped catalog hundreds of ancestral objects alongside Galuska and lead curator Dr. Severin Fowles, Picuris’ official archaeologist and anthropologist. “It felt like a Herculean effort,” recalls Cayla Gancy, a Barnard graduate and museum intern. “We were accessioning, labeling, weighing and creating text for the exhibit.”

A respectful reckoning

The museum’s revival also comes amid a broader shift in archaeology. For decades, institutions removed Indigenous remains and sacred objects without consent. The 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) required federally funded museums to return those items — though a “culturally unidentifiable” loophole long allowed many to remain in collections.

“There was a loophole in which you could just say, ‘Oh, there’s no living descendants,’ which is just patently false,” Gancy says. Recent revisions now strengthen tribal sovereignty and consultation. “At Pot Creek, the descendant groups are Picuris and Taos, and both must agree before anything can be displayed.”

For the new exhibit, curators adopted a “community-based archaeological approach.” Even small choices — leaving bags of pottery shards unsealed so they can “breathe,” or wrapping sacred objects in cloth rather than plastic — reflect that respect.

Before the public opening, tribal members previewed the exhibit in a private ceremony. “We had elders who rarely leave their homes come out,” Quiver says. “And young kids who were just mesmerized. It’s not just arrowheads in a box — it’s the story that it’s telling.”

That story continues. Picuris recently partnered with geneticists from the University of Copenhagen, confirming a direct link between living Picuris members and ancestral remains at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon.

“I’m proud that Picuris is starting to become part of this bigger picture,” Quiver says. “We’re in a time of revitalization — DNA testing, the rec park, all of these projects.”

Quiver, a fifth-generation micaceous potter, created 50 clay pieces for the museum’s opening day — all sold out by noon. They learned from their great-grandmother Cora Durand and uncle Anthony Durand, inheriting their tools and a love of the clay known as Molo nan na, the “pot dirt place.”

“This museum has always been a key puzzle piece in what we grew up with,” Quiver reflects. “As a kid, I’d come here for art classes. Now, I get to help tell our story — and bring it home.”

Picuris Pueblo Museum and Interpretive Center

201 Pueblo View Road, Peñasco

Open Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; weekdays by appointment

museum.director@picurispueblo.org

Welcome to our latest issue, one that captures the vibrant spirit of Taos — from the quiet grace of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the heartwarming bustle of Mantes Chow Cart. In these pages, you’ll find stories rooted in the land and lifted by art, music and memory.

We walk with llamas through alpine wilderness and learn from the wisdom of foragers searching for mushrooms beneath forest canopies. We visit the newly opened Aldo Leopold House, where conservation history breathes through timber and stone, and we share in the soulful reflections of Eliza Gilkyson as she sings us through today’s storms.

From stolen masterpieces finding their way home to the enduring light of painters Leffel and McGraw, Taos continues to inspire, surprise and stir us. With portraits that honor community and craftsmanship, and a fresh chapter in Taos hospitality at Hotel Willa, this issue is our love letter to the high desert and all of those who shape its story.

Thank you for being part of this adventure.

Ellen Miller-Goins

Magazine Editor

60 lives, 1 town

By Ekin Balcıoğlu

“It took a complete three days to recognize this and make the move which has lasted 35 years to date … Taos hit me like a ton of bricks: I knew I was home,” Paul O’Connor writes in the introduction to “Taos Portraits II: Photos by Paul O’Connor.”

This sense of belonging — immediate yet enduring — provides the foundation for a book that delves into the lives of the people who make up this singular town. Edited by Lynne Robinson and designed by Kelly Pasholk, “Taos Portraits II” presents 60 portraits, each accompanied by essays that illuminate the personal, cultural and artistic forces shaping Taos.

“Then there are the people. First and foremost, the Indigenous Tiwa people of the Taos Pueblo. Their presence, generosity, and history are the underpinnings that hold everything together,” O’Connor continues. These words underscore the centrality of the Tiwa community to the identity of Taos, where their traditions and connection to the land have shaped the town’s rhythm and spirit. O’Connor acknowledges this with a deep respect born of decades of observation and participation.

The town itself has also been shaped by those who came and never left. “Waves of people from various periods of time, coming and going and leaving behind a certain number who never leave,” he writes. It is these individuals — artists, builders, thinkers — who have captured O’Connor’s attention, those who stayed and became part of the fabric of Taos, contributing their creativity and lives to its enduring complexity.

The art of quiet exchange

In her foreword to “Taos Portraits II,” Jina Brenneman reflects on the deeply human challenge of portraiture. “A great portrait is not only a collaboration but also a negotiation between the photographer and the sitter,” she writes. “Perhaps that push and pull is what makes taking a photographic portrait so complicated and also one of the most difficult undertakings in art.”

Brenneman’s words capture the spirit of Paul O’Connor’s black-and-white images, which unfold as intimate exchanges. His photographs have a quiet gravity to them, inviting the viewer to linger, not just on the faces but on the invisible relationships behind each frame.

The book itself mirrors this intimacy. Large in format and weighty in presence, it feels deliberate, designed to demand your attention. The portraits, rendered in black and white, strip away distractions, bringing every detail — the lines of a face, the texture of clothing, the light in a subject’s eyes — into stark relief. It’s not just a book to flip through but one to sit with, to return to, as the stories unfold across its pages. The essays that accompany the images, written by friends, family members or the subjects themselves, deepen the sense of closeness. It is a book that feels both monumental and personal, a rare balance that makes it as much an artifact as an experience.

“Today, portraiture is more important than ever,” Brenneman observes. “It creates a life-affirming, human connection that is essential, in a world becoming less and less sensitive to the human condition.”