Events - December 2023

Fort Stanton, N.M. - Embrace the warmth of our cultures and join us at Fort Stanton Historic Site Chapel on Saturday, December 16th from 1:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon to listen to opera singer Karla Ramos perform a lineup of holiday classics.

Take a fresh look at our current exhibitions with a scavenger hunt!

Visit us for FREE Admission for all as we celebrate Art and History every First Friday evening of every month!

Join us tonight to view our newest exhibit “Art from the Heart and Good Cheer for the New Year: Holiday Cards by Gustave Baumann and Friends".

This exhibit is on display in the Palace of the Governors, November 17th, 2023 - February 18th 2024.

Please enter at the front doors of the New Mexico History Museum, located at 113 Lincoln Avenue.

Photo credit: Courtesy of the Photo Archives at the New Mexico History Museum.

Join us for an evening of holiday fun on Friday, Dec. 1! The Museum will be a destination on the City of Albuquerque’s Old Town Holiday Stroll. During the event, stop by for educational activitiesand plenty of holiday cheer! NatureWorks Discovery Store will be open to help visitors get started on their holiday shopping, and the Naturalist Center and Observatory will both be open to visitors.

The December meeting of Sci Art Santa Fe will gather in the classroom at the new Vladem Contemporary building of the New Mexico Museum of Art.

Winter Letters from the Reservation Farolito Tour is a live interactive event that connects you, the visitor, to the site history through landscape and storytelling using Fort Sumner archival military correspondance and oral histories from the Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache).  These letters and oral histories, read at key points of interest on the former grounds of the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation, describes the mindset of the United States Government towards Tribal polices in the American Southwest and the daily tribulations experienced by the Diné and the Ndé in the months of December through February (1862-1867) while held captive on the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation.

Beginning at 5:00 PM, Staff tours will happen every 20 minutes and go through the duration of the event.  Each tour will take approximately one hour and cover 1.5 miles of walking, all lit by approximately 1,300 farolitos. The tour will take visitors to several points of interest on the exterior grounds including the Mescalero Apache Prayer Circle, the Pecos River, partial replicas of Fort Sumner, the Navajo Travelers Shrine, and the site of the signature of the Treaty of 1868.  Additionally, there will also be a self-guided audio tour for visitors who desire to explore on their own or were unable to join one of the tour groups.

Tickets will be $7 for adults, free for children under 16 and free for Tribal Members, which will cover access to the Memorial Exhibition, a tour, and food while it lasts.  Food options will include: Posolé, Biscochitos, Hot Cocoa, and Coffee and will be served in the site Resource Room.

Purchase your tickets now online HERE

HOLIDAY ARTS & CRAFTS                                                                                                                      Kathryn O’Keeffe Theatre                                                                                                                     11:00 am–4:00 pm

1:00–3:00 pm                                                                                                                                          Screening of the The Pueblo Opera Program: And What Could Be Next and panel discussion                                                                                                                               Kathryn O’Keeffe Theatre

Panel discussion with Director Beverly R. Singer and the Pueblo Opera Cultural Council.  This documentary film explores the 50-year history between the Santa Fe Opera and Pueblo and TribalCommunities of New Mexico examining how this innovative programming has inspired Pueblo andTribal youth to engage with opera, including attending Youth Nights at the opera and performingat the Santa Fe Opera.

The first Sunday of each month we invite families to join us in a fun art-making session at the new Vladem Contemporary.

Join us for the exhibit opening!  FREE for all New Mexico residents.

1:00 - 2:00 pm  -  "Indigenizing Artistic Engagement in Alaska"  A conversation with Asia Freeman, exhibition curator and Bunnell Street Art Center director, and Melissa Shaginoff, co-curator of Ghhúunayúkata/To Keep Them Warm: The Alaska Native Parka.

2:00 - 4:00 pm - The Women’s Board  hosts refreshments in the Atrium.

To request ASL Interpretation contact Patricia Sigala by November 28 at: patricia.sigala@dca.nm.gov

The traveling exhibition Protection: Adaptation and Resistance presents the work of more than 45 Alaska Native artists who explore the themes of climate crisis, struggles for social justice, strengthening communities through ancestral knowledge, and imagining a thriving future. 

The diverse works in the exhibition range from regalia to images of traditional tattooing, graphic design, and posters for public health and well-being. Iñupiaq artist Amber Webb’s 12-foot-high qaspeq (a cloth hooded overshirt) features the drawn portraits of more than 200 Indigenous women who have been missing or murdered in Alaska since 1950. This Memorial Qaspeq makes visible the scale of loss and grief the tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) has in Indigenous communities, and with this installation, Webb calls for a solution to violence against women and healing for Native communities.

Protection: Adaptation and Resistance is a project of the Bunnell Street Art Center in Homer, Alaska. It is made possible, in part, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The CIRI Foundation, the Alaska Community Foundation, Rasmuson Foundation, and the Alaska Humanities Forum.

Katrina Gallegos just started as manager of Coronado-Jemez Historic Site, but she already knows her “stuff” about the state’s history and traditions by growing up here and playing an active role in preserving and protecting the land. Gallegos’ first day on the job was November 27th but her life has been intertwined with the land and its people since birth.

SOLD OUT!

Friends of Folk Art present Conversations: Intimate Salons with Folk Art Makers, Collectors & Icons with Christine Mather, Folk Art historian, author, purveyor and educator.

Please join us on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, from 10 a.m. to noon to spend time with art historian and author Christine Mather.  She has lived in Santa Fe since 1975 and her expertise on Spanish Colonial art history and the Southwest as well as her easy and fun writing style have made her books some of the best-selling about Santa Fe and its unique style. The wife of Davis Mather, she has also immersed herself in the folk arts of Mexico, New Mexico, and Native America.  The emphasis of this talk will be on her journey with folk art: from collector, author, purveyor to educator.

This event is for FOFA members ONLY.  FOFA members will receive an invitation by email which will include all the details and the price. A single membership allows access to one ticket. A dual membership allows for two tickets.

For information on joining FOFA, a membership group of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, please click here.

For questions, please email friendsoffolkart@gmail.com

Please join Rick Hendricks, Former New Mexico State Historian, Editor of the Vargas Project, University of New Mexico, for an ON-LINE talk on Pablo Abeita of Isleta Pueblo, who was one of the most important Native leaders in the Southwest in his day. Abeita was an effective advocate for Isleta and other pueblos in New Mexico, testifying before Congress on several occasions. An articulate orator with a biting sense of humor, Abeita, fought successfully for Native rights to their ancestral lands and water.

Rick Hendricks is a former New Mexico state historian and editor of the Vargas Project at the University of New Mexico. He has written extensively on the history of the American Southwest and Mexico. He has coauthored several books with Malcolm Ebright, including Pueblo Indian Sovereignty: Land and Water in New Mexico and Texas, published by the University of Oklahoma Press in 2019, and Pablo Abeita: The Life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871-1940, published by the University of New Mexico Press in 2023.

This presentation is drawn from the book Pablo Abeita: The Life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871-1940. The book is available from the New Mexico History Museum’s Spiegelberg Shop, the University of New Mexico Press, and your local bookstore (bookshop.org).

Please register here for the link to the ON-LINE presentation: Pablo Abeita: The life and Times of a Native Statesman of Isleta Pueblo, 1871-1940 - Friends of History (friendsofhistorynm.org)

Photo credit: Book Cover. University of New Mexico Press, 2023.

Donations Welcome

Start the holiday season right with Lights of Los Luceros! On Saturday, December 16th

Join Jemez Historic Site for a special night of photography at Lights of Gisewa. This is a special event where professional and amateur photographers are invited to capture the site lit up by hundreds of farolitos. Take your time, set up your shots, and enjoy. TIckets are available for online purchase!

Head to the NHCC for an evening of family-friendly fun with a focus on celebrating winter and the holidays. Sip on hot cocoa and nibble biscochitos as you enjoy winter crafts.

Celebrate New Mexico Traditions with us at Jemez Historic Site for the annual holiday event, Lights of Gisewa in Jemez Springs, New Mexico! The event will take place over two nights — December 8-9, 2023. The tickets are available in 30 minute time slots and are available online for purchase!

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture’s Native Narrative Speaker Series continues with the Gaussoin Family, A family conversation among artists. Purchase your ticket in advance to reserve your seat.

Get your picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus on Saturday, December 9 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM in the Luna House at the Lincoln Historic Site. Please check into the Anderson-Freeman Visitor’s Center to purchase tickets day of, or buy your tickets in advance online.

Join us for the 2023 Native American Portal Artisans’ Winter Youth Show December 9th & 10th!

Support the talents from the next generation of Native American artists and craftspeople. Youth artists ages five to seventeen who specialize in a variety of artistic mediums will be showcasing and selling their work in the museum’s main lobby.

Enter through the main entrance at 113 Lincoln Ave. This is a free event and free admission to the entire museum for all visitors.

The event fosters the development of young artists who are descendants of current Native American Artisans Portal Program members and celebrates the importance of the continued traditions of Native American artistry. The Portal Program offers buyers the chance to interact with artisans who display their handmade wares under the portal of the Palace of the Governors, as they have for decades. The ever-changing array of handcrafted items includes pottery, textiles, and jewelry made of traditional materials such as turquoise, coral, and silver.

Photo credit: Native American Portal Artisans Program members showcasing their traditional artistry. Courtesy: New Mexico History Museum

Reserve Seats Here

Join us for the screening of MINIATURES and a discussion with individuals interviewed in the episode: Laura Addison, Museum of International Folk Art; Stuart Ashman, Artes de Cuba Gallery; Nadia Hamid, International Folk Art Market; Thomas Leech, retired, New Mexico History Museum; and Maureen Russell, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. Patricia Bischetti, executive producer and director of “Craft in America,” will facilitate the panel discussion.

MINIATURES explores the world of tiny objects and the artists who make them. From folk art to marionettes to tiny furniture, the artists of MINIATURES reveal what motivates them to work at a scale that demands a masterful attention to detail.

New Mexico artists and organizations figure prominently in MINIATURES, which includes segments on Alexander Girard’s spectacular invented world housed in the Museum of International Folk Art’s Girard Wing; beloved New Mexico artist Gustave Baumann’s marionettes from the collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art; and International Folk Art Market artists who work at a diminutive scale, including Cuban artist Leandro Gómez Quintero, who creates small-scale, painstakingly detailed re-creations of vehicles using found materials.

“Craft in America” is the Peabody Award–winning and Emmy-nominated documentary series that discovers the beauty, significance and relevance of handmade objects and the artists who make them. “Craft in America” staff and film crew traveled to New Mexico twice, in 2022, for filming of the MINIATURES episode. The public broadcast of MINIATURES on PBS will take place on December 29, 2023 (check local listings). All episodes are available for streaming on the PBS App, craftinamerica.org, and pbs.org/craftinamerica.

ARTISTS & INSTITUTIONS FEATURED IN MINIATURES

Alexander Girard and the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM

International Folk Art Market, Santa Fe, NM

Gustave Baumann and the New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM

Leandro Gómez Quintero, Baracoa, Cuba

Mark Murphy, Astoria, OR

Caption: Craft in America crew filming the “Miniatures” episode in the Girard Wing. Photo: Laura Addison

Celebrate New Mexico Traditions with us at Jemez Historic Site for the annual holiday event, Lights of Gisewa in Jemez Springs, New Mexico! The event will take place over two nights — December 8-9, 2023. The tickets are available in 30 minute time slots and are available online for purchase!

Celebrated around the world, Las Posadas recreates Mary and Joseph’s search for a place of shelter in the days leading up to the birth of Jesus. This 47th annual historic Hispanic version is presented by local volunteers and others from several northern New Mexico communities. The candle-lit procession will begin at 5:30 p.m. on the Santa Fe Plaza and conclude with carols, and good cheer.

The History Museum will close at 3pm to prepare for this free public event.

Arrive to the Plaza at 5:00pm for candle preparations.

Join us for the 2023 Native American Portal Artisans’ Winter Youth Show December 9th & 10th!

Support the talents from the next generation of Native American artists and craftspeople. Youth artists ages five to seventeen who specialize in a variety of artistic mediums will be showcasing and selling their work in the museum’s main lobby.

Enter through the main entrance at 113 Lincoln Ave. This is a free event and free admission to the entire museum for all visitors.

The event fosters the development of young artists who are descendants of current Native American Artisans Portal Program members and celebrates the importance of the continued traditions of Native American artistry. The Portal Program offers buyers the chance to interact with artisans who display their handmade wares under the portal of the Palace of the Governors, as they have for decades. The ever-changing array of handcrafted items includes pottery, textiles, and jewelry made of traditional materials such as turquoise, coral, and silver.

Photo credit: Native American Portal Artisans Program members showcasing their traditional artistry. Courtesy: New Mexico History Museum

On December 15, Fort Selden Historic Site invites visitors from Radium Springs and beyond to celebrate the long winter nights. During Noche de las Luminarias, visitors can expect more than 900 luminarias lining the Fort’s footprint, a campfire, and family-friendly activities, including holiday-themed crafts. Join the site in saying goodbye to 2023, and make a wish for 2024 by the campfire! 

Join us for a delightful winter celebration at the Museum of International Folk and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.

Admission to both museums will be free from 4 pm - 7 pm.

Join us for a short play in Spanish of La Pastorela Cómica at 5pm in the Vernick Auditorium. 

From 4:30- 6:30 visitors can create their own holiday cards and enjoy hot cider and ginger cookies in the Atrium.

Los Pastores o Pastorelas, is a popular holiday drama that has survived the ages. Nearly every cultural group in Santa Fe has performed the holiday rite at one time or another. Community groups gather each year to perform renditions of Los Pastores. The holiday drama came to the New World in the late 16th century with the Spanish missionaries. It carried on primarily through oral tradition among families in Mexico and the American Southwest.

Audiences laugh and clap during a traditional holiday play known as a pastorela, a retelling of the birth of Christ with a comic slant complete with mariachi music and elaborate costumes. Although pastorelas depict the Christian nativity, they include the perils of a group of shepherds, the devil, and angels in a scene of satirical twist.  The short play is presented in Spanish.

Directed and produced by Thelma Arguello, Grupo Coreográfico Leyendas. Dance choreography by Xóchitl Ehrl’s Ballet Folklorico de mi Pueblo and Antonina Romp’s Los Niños de Santa Fe.  Staging, light, and sound by Teatro Paraguas.

Museum of Indian Arts & Culture and Museum of International Folk Art are back with the Winter Glow Holiday Stroll. Spend time on Museum Hill with farolitos lining up the walkway to both museums, holiday ornament making, holiday treats and family-friendly fun.

Please join the New Mexico History Museum and the New Mexico Museum of Art to celebrate the holiday season with a combined open house. Along with music, crafts, a puppet show, and holiday cheer, we encourage you to explore exhibitions in bothmuseums. Activities at the New Mexico History Museum include tours, entertainment,highlights from the stored collections, and History Library and photo archive collections.

Museums are open 10-5pm, and events are scheduled from 11-4pm.

Complimentary admission to both museums for this special day! 

Embrace the warmth of our cultures and join us at Fort Stanton Historic Site Chapel on Saturday, December 16th from 1:00 to 2:00 in the afternoon to opera singer Karla Ramos perform a lineup of holiday classics.

“Holidays at the Palace” brings communities together for a beloved evening of hot cider, cookies, live local music, craft activities, and a visit from Santa Claus—all in the legendary Palace of the Governors.

Donations of non-perishable food will be collected for those inneed.

Entrance for this event will be from the portal at 105 W. Palace Ave, opposite the Santa Fe Plaza Bandstand.

Join us on Saturday, December 16 for one of the New Mexico Museum of Art’s most endearing traditions, our annual Holiday Open House!

Start the holiday season right with Lights of Los Luceros! On Saturday, December 16, Los Luceros Historic Site will be dressed for the season: farolitos, luminarias, and Christmas lights will line the site’s walking paths, helping visitors find their way as they stroll under the magnificent Milky Way. The historic buildings will don their own holiday finery, too!

Join the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Site and the Taylor Family for a chance to view Paul and Mary Daniels Taylor’s collection of over 200 Nacimientos (nativity scenes) from around the world. This impressive collection and the open house have become a Mesilla tradition. 

Join filmmaker, archivist, and educator Rick Prelinger for a speculative journey through archives and memory keeping.

On this holiday virtual tour, you will be treated to folk art Nativity sets from from many countries of the world, including Italy, Peru, Poland, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Greece and France collected by Alexander and Susan Girard. During this festive season, celebrate Girard’s love for Nativities that enthralled him as a child and that he grew to collect. MOIFA has over 200 sets from his folk art Nativity collection. The tour includes historical background, fun facts about Girard’s original Nativity installations, and a few surprises. The virtual tour is free, but please register for your preferred date at the links below and we will send you a Zoom link for the tour.

Register for Dec 18, 2023 09:30 AM Mountain Time (US and Canada) here: https://nmculture-org.zoom.us/.../tZApcOuoqzwoE9WpznfGKbn... 

Enjoy a fun, festive evening at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum on December 19 from 4-8 p.m. The second-annual Farm La-La features thousands of lights around the 47-acre Museum, trolley rides, pony rides, crafts, cookie-decorating, hot chocolate, and s’mores. Guests may also tour the museum’s exhibits during the event, which is supported by the Friends of the Museum and Shamrock Foodservice Warehouse of Las Cruces.

In "Encountering the Unseen," presented by Sci Art Santa Fe, join a LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) conversation that delves into the uncharted territories of consciousness, perception, and scientific emergence through art.

A gallery wide scavenger hunt that will help you see the exhibition Shadow and Light in new ways