PRESS RELEASES

02/19/12 Los Ciboleros - Spanish Buffalo Hunters
Coronado State Monument, Bernalillo Manuel Lopez, a noted historical interpreter, will discuss the hunting methods and stories of the Ciboleros, the Spanish buffalo hunters of the 1700-1800s who hunted on the open plains of the American Southwest for meat and hides. The event takes place on Sunday, February 19, from 2 to 4 p.m.Manuel Lopez has a B.A. from the University of New Mexico, and has been a member and board member of the Association of Living History Farms and Agricultural Museums (ALHFAM). A seasoned presenter, he has participated in numerous events and made presentations at Bents Fort, El Camino Real International Heritage Center, the Pioneers Museum in Colorado Springs, El Pueblo Museum in Pueblo Colorado and the Palace of the Governors in Santa Fe. He has worked with El Rancho de Las Golondrinas (living history ranch) in La Cienega for nearly 20 years. Lecture $5/adult, free to Members of the Friends of Coronado State Monument. Event will be held at The DeLavy House (Sandoval County Historical Society), 161 Edmond Rd, Bernalillo, NM. Located off Hwy 550, 1.7 miles west of I-25, Exit 242 (Just west of Coronado State Monument; turn north on the gravel road between the Phillips 66 Station and the new IHOP Restaurant).For info: 505-867-5351, www.nmmonuments.org, http://home.comcast.net/~friendsofcsm
02/17/12 Taming the Wild West: The Arts in New Mexico’s Journey to Statehood
On Friday, February 17, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. the New Mexico Museum of Art will present the second in a series of monthly presentations on the New Mexico Centennial.In the 19th century New Mexico was famous for its colorful and often violent frontier life. Last onth three evocative storytellers, MARK LEE GARDNER, PAUL HUTTON, and HAMPTON SIDES, iscussed some of the legends who defined it, among them Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, and Pat Garrett. We now focus on the period from the 1880s to the 1920s, when civic leaders sought to prove that erritorial New Mexico was ready for statehood. One strategy was to adopt building styles and other fashions that were popular in the rest of the nation. Another, which soon became dominant in Santa Fe, as to draw upon Native and Hispanic traditions and emphasize features that made our region unique.
To explore the role that architecture, painting, pottery, weaving, and other arts played in this key ransition, we’ll call on anthropologist NANCY OWEN LEWIS, a Research Associate and former Director of Scholar Programs at the School for Advanced Research, an institution that is pivotal to this arrative. Lewis co-authored A PECULIAR ALCHEMY, a history of SAR that traces Edgar Lee Hewett’s mpact on Southwest culture. Joining her will be New Mexico Museum of Art curator JOSEPH
TRAUGOTT, who has given us HOW THE WEST IS ONE, SOLE MATES, and other delightful exhibitions. Presiding over the gathering will be JOHN F. ANDREWS, of the New Mexico Humanities Council and hosts a popular Speaking of Shakespeare series in Manhattan.FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, AT 5:30 P.M.ADMISSION $15
Reserve online at www.TicketsSantaFe.org, call (505) 988-1234, or pay at the door.
SPONSORED BY THE NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART
107 West Palace Avenue (505) 476-5071
01/26/12 El Palacio Magazine, Centennial Gift to New Mexico
El Palacio Magazine, published by the Museum of New Mexico for nearly 100 years, celebrates the digital age just as the state celebrates its centennial, by putting the first ten years of the magazine online, free to all at http://archives.elpalacio.org.
01/23/12 American Association of Museums Grants State System Highest Accreditation Status
The Museum of New Mexico has been re-accredited by the American Association of Museums and granted its highest award. The announcement was made today at the Department of Cultural Affairs’ annual Culture Day in the Capitol Rotunda by Bonnie Styles, chair of AAM’s Accreditation Commission and director of the Illinois State Museum. This national accreditation applies to the State Of New Mexico’s Museum system, comprised of 14 state-operated entities under the DCA: the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors; Museum of International Folk Art; New Mexico Museum of Art; Museum of Indian Arts & Culture; Museum Resources Division; Office of Archaeological Studies; and the Coronado, Ft. Selden, Jemez, Lincoln, El Camino Real, Bosque Redondo Memorial at Fort Sumner, Fort Stanton, and the Taylor-Barela-Reynolds-Mesilla state monuments.
01/20/12 Culture Day at the Capitol
Media Advisory Monday, January 23 Culture Day at the Capitol, 8 am to 5 pmSpecial presentation at noon in the Rotunda, featuring an important announcement by the American Association of Museums regarding the status of the Museum of New Mexico’s accreditation. Photo opps include: · Performances at the noon event by dancer Regina Bell Dawley, singer/songwriter Cathy McGill, and the 3-HC Holy Faith Break Dancers. · Displays throughout the day from museums, monuments and other DCA programs, sure to include dinosaurs, rockets, folk art, archaeology and more · Visitors posing themselves into a cutout of a Centennial parade car for souvenir photos Possible interviews: DCA Secretary Veronica Gonzales; Bonnie Styles, chair of AAM’s Accreditation Commission and director of the Illinois State Museum
01/09/12 Visit New Mexico’s State Monuments in 2012
During this New Mexico Centennial year visit the state's most valued cultural treasures - its monuments. They provide ample opportunity and enticement to travel the state, see historic sites, and experience true New Mexico culture. Enjoy!
12/30/11 Between the Lines: Culture and Cartography on the Road to Statehood
From a Spanish government that never quite knew where to draw its northern colony’s borders to a Mexican government that disagreed with where the lines eventually were drawn to a Texas Republic that wanted to claim the Rio Grande, Santa Fe, and much of eastern New Mexico, the U.S. government eventually managed to carve out the trusty rectangle we now know as New Mexico. Between the Lines: Culture and Cartography on the Road to Statehood in the Governor’s Gallery is part of the state’s 2012 Centennial celebration. The exhibition explores how cartographers interpreted New Mexico’s land, its physical and political boundaries, and the cultural minglings of Native, Spanish, Mexican, and American people. The exhibition opens Thursday, January 5 and will be on view through May 4, 2012, in the Governor’s Gallery on the fourth floor of the state Capitol. The Women’s Board of the Museum of New Mexico will host a public reception from 4-6 pm on January 5. The gallery is free and open to the public.
12/07/11 History Museum to Return Peruvian Artifact
The New Mexico History Museum is preparing to repatriate an archaeological artifact to Peru, a move that signals the museum’s commitment to cultural diplomacy on the international stage. The exchange of the artifact, a gold pendant from the Moché Period (100-800 AD), will take place on Thursday, Dec. 8, in Washington, D.C.
12/01/11 Margarete Bagshaw: Breaking the Rules
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture will present a major retrospective spanning 20 years of the self-taught artist Margarete Bagshaw. Opening February 12, 2012, Margarete Bagshaw: Breaking the Rules will feature more than 30 paintings (some on sculpted wood panels), bronze and clay as wall art and multi-colored ceramic vessels that demonstrate the breadth and multi-dimensionality of her work. The exhibition runs through December 30, 2013.
11/28/11 Holidays at the Palace
Steep your holidays in time-honored traditions at the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors this year. Our annual lineup—Christmas at the Palace, Las Posadas, and the Young Native Artists Show—is graced this year with several new additions, including the First National Bank’s beloved toy train. Because of the bank’s Main Office renovation on the Santa Fe Plaza, the train will be set up in the History Museum’s lobby from Tuesday, Dec. 13, through Saturday, Dec. 31.
11/17/11 Thanksgiving weekend schedule for state museums in Santa Fe
The four state museums in Santa Fe will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving. If you’re looking for a break from leftovers and football the rest of the weekend, join us from 10 am to 5 pm Friday-Sunday. While you’re there, shop for unique holiday presents at the museums’ shops, and check out new exhibits at the New Mexico History Museum, New Mexico Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
11/10/11 Calligraphers Offer Free Demonstrations and Hands-On Tips
As part of the new exhibitions Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible and Contemplative Landscape, calligraphers from Albuquerque and Santa Fe will demonstrate a wide variety of book crafts in the History Museum’s second-floor Gathering Space, through Saturday, April 7. The demonstrators plan to be available from 10 am to noon and 1-3 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. If you have a group of visitors coming at other times, call Tom Leech at 505-476-5096, and we’ll try to arrange a demonstration.
10/31/11 Palace of the Governors Photo Archives Wins Hewett Award
Citing its many resources and online accessibility, the New Mexico Association of Museums will bestow its Edgar L. Hewett Award for Excellence on the Palace of the Governors Photo Archives at its annual business meeting in Farmington on Friday, Nov. 4. “The staff of the Photo Archives has worked diligently to make the state’s visual record readily available to people in any part of the state and even the world,” said Dr. Frances Levine, director of the New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors. “These resources will prove especially valuable as we prepare to enter our Centennial year as a state. We’re honored by this award.”
10/18/11 Woven Identities
For the first time in over 30 years, the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture opens a major exhibition of North American Indian baskets on Sunday, November 20, 2011. The exhibition runs through April 1, 2014.
10/14/11 World-Renowned Calligrapher Donald Jackson Coming to Santa Fe
Enjoy a special presentation by one of the world’s foremost calligraphers, Donald Jackson, artistic director of The Saint John’s Bible and senior scribe to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s Crown Office at the House of Lords. “Donald Jackson: Illuminating the Word,” will be held on Monday, Nov. 7, at 6 pm, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in downtown Santa Fe. Tickets are $15. A private reception following is $50. Tickets are available at www.ticketssantafe.org or (505) 988-1234.
10/11/11 2012 Brainpower & Brownbags Lecture Series Tackles the Centennial
In celebration of our 100th year as a state, the New Mexico History Museum’s Fray Angélico Chávez History Library is devoting its 2012 Brainpower & Brownbags Lecture Series to Centennial speakers. All of the lectures are held at 12 pm in the John Gaw Meem Room of the museum; enter through the Washington Avenue doors. The lectures are free and, yes, you may bring a lunch to enjoy. Click on "more" for the complete schedule.
10/11/11 History Museum celebrates the Centennial with 47 Stars exhibit
The United States Flag Act of 1818 set forth a rule that no new stars could be added to Old Glory until the Fourth of July immediately following a state’s admission to the union. Thanks to that once-a-year-and-only-once-a-year mandate, New Mexicans hoping to share their pride at becoming the 47th state were essentially forced into committing their first illegal acts as U.S. citizens. From January 6 through November 25, 2012, the New Mexico History Museum commemorates that dip into the dark side with 47 Stars, an exhibit of the officially unofficial 47-star flag. 47 Stars joins a collection of long-term exhibits, a year of Centennial topics in the ongoing Brainpower & Brownbags Lecture Series, and a tongue-in-cheek front-window installation that lets you step into a historic photo, all to help celebrate the state’s Centennial.
10/07/11 Past, Present, Future: Three New Mexico Photographers
New Mexico photographers Michael Berman, David Taylor, and Connie Samaras will be featured in an exhibition of their work at the New Mexico Museum of Art opening October 28, 2011 running through Apr 22, 2012.
10/07/11 Aurelia Gomez, Museum’s Educator, Recognized by New Mexico Art Education Association
Aurelia Gomez, Director of Education at the Museum of International Folk Art has been recognized by the New Mexico Art Education Association as the Museum Educator of the Year for her inspiring work as an arts educator.
10/06/11 2011 Season of Downtown Walking Tours on Santa Fe History Comes to a Close Oct. 15
If you’ve been meaning to check out one of the New Mexico History Museum’s daily walking tours of downtown history, better get on board soon. The 2011 season ends Oct. 15. Monday through Saturday, gather at 10:15 am at the Palace Courtyard’s Blue Gate just south of the History Museum entrance at 113 Lincoln Ave. Cost is $10; guides do not accept tips. Expect a leisurely pace and up to two hours of walking. Reservations are not necessary, but special group tours can be arranged by calling (505) 476-5200.