If it is Adobe Style, It is Santa Fe!

 

New Mexico, land of big skies!  The following images show highlights of our drive from Roswell to Santa Fe.

Flowering Cane Cholla Cactus

“The pyramids” of New Mexico.

Yup, Santa Fe

Around the RV Park…..

Can you spot the third bunny?

Santa Fe is a great walking town, loaded with great restaurants, art galleries, sculpture on every corner and beautiful buildings, trees and gardens.

Historic Santa Fe

Three dollars entrance fee is worth it.

The original church bell.

Archaeological dig  showing the original steps to the altar.

No entrance fee.

The Lorretto Chapel is a small Romanesque church famous for its staircase to the choir loft that was built by a craftsman in a record number of days who disappeared after they were completed.  Of course the nuns deemed that “a miracle”.  The staircase is a beautiful structure but unfortunately the nuns needed a bannister installed for safety and it hides the beauty of the wood work and masterful engineering of the original spiral stairs.  The balcony railing also blocks the view of the rose window in the choir loft.   A chinsy recording blasts through the chapel playing tinny organ music, telling the history of “the miracle” and asking for donations for the retired nuns!  It cost $5.00 each to enter the chapel and the place already has a steady income from weddings and funerals that they hold there.  The exit leads through a mammoth gift shop crammed with rosaries and religious knick knacks.  Gross!  The three dimensional stations of the cross were beautiful to see though.

Stations of the cross.

 

Artistic Santa Fe

Art of all materials, styles and subject matter is everywhere in Santa Fe inside and outside.  Look at the corners where roads and sidewalks intersect, on rooftops, in restaurants, in back and front yards, in hotel lobbies, under trees, along fences, in parks and gardens and in the hundreds of art galleries and you will see a variety of visual treasures.

We would have brought this home for the living room but it would not fit through the RV door!

The above is sad display of Indigenous folks selling their crafts in a space “donated by the government”. 

Architectural Santa Fe

“Big Brother” controls the colour palette available for painting details on the Santa Fe buildings.  Choices are limited to twenty colours only.  It is interesting to see the older structures, new homes, hotels and apartment buildings and all the chain stores and restaurants unified by the adobe “recipe”.  One of the most beautiful features of the style are the shadows that play across their flat, buff surfaces.  There are a few putty-gray coloured buildings that are being constructed now and they actually provide a refreshing break from the oatmeal, salmon, brick and auburn shades of the traditional adobe.

Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi

Gastronomic Santa Fe

There are many choices of casual and upscale dining in Santa Fe.  All nations are represented and the majority of establishments boast their use of fresh local ingredients.  Their taco and fajita trucks have great ratings for tasty food under $10.00!  We only ate out a couple of times but our favourite meal was at El Callejon Taqueria and Grill  where we enjoyed tacos, warm from the griddle, served with vibrantly coloured toppings and unique sauces.

We also visited the small and friendly C.G Higgins Confections a couple of times for fabulous coffee.  Chris had a triple espresso!

Day of the Dead chocolates, yum; love eating skulls.

Beautiful western themed chocolates with gold details.

Museum Of International Folk Art

Chris was under the weather the day I visited the Folk Art Museum.  The fabulous collection houses more than 130,000 objects from over 100 countries.  The mission of the Museum is “to foster understanding of the traditional arts to illuminate human creativity and shape the humane world.”

It has to be one of the most exciting museums I have ever visited!  I spent over four hours exploring and whenever I felt a bit tired or supersaturated, another exhibit would spark my interest and my energy would surge.  Everything about the place was incredible including painted details on the ceilings,  objects displayed up high, decorations and messages on the floors and even in the elevators and washrooms;  interactive stations for visitors to comment or create folk art themselves, a library, lecture hall, craft programs for school children, an incredible children’s play area and two magnificent shops.  

Children’s interactive wall, tree of life blocks, puppet show and books.

Beautiful screen in kid’s playroom coloured on the inside, black silhouettes on the other.

The inviting rest area for museum guests.

In the elevator.

Doors to the bright sky lit atrium.

Look up or you might miss something!

The Hispanic Heritage Wing is dedicated to the exploration of the Hispanic/Latino and Latin American Cultures.  The current show featured posters, costumes, instruments and historical documents and photos about Flamenco Dancing.

The Bartlett Wing is the original gallery space gifted along with 2,500 works in 1953 by Florence Bartlett.  Temporary shows are exhibited there and the interesting Tramp Art was on display at the time of my visit.  During the Depression,  some folks, mostly men, passed the time by carving wood and creating a variety of items, most commonly frames and boxes.  All that was required to make “Tramp Art” were the simplest tools (a knife), basic raw materials (scrap wood) and the fundamental technique (V-notch carving).  Individuals added their own creativity, clever design and wit.

Decoupage tray with photos and cigar bands.

Museum guests are encouraged to try their hand at Tramp Art.

I made this frame….NOT!

“The Girard Wing opened in 1982 with the long-term exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, an awe-inspiring display of approximately 10,000 pieces of folk art, toys, miniatures and textiles from the Alexander and Susan Girard Collection.” gallery brochure

The gallery is so crammed with objects, it is difficult to express the excitement and awe that I carried with me in my three hours here.  I have divided my images into three categories of my own, grouping works that were 1. Amazing, 2. Beautiful,  and 3. Amusing.

 Most of the displays are behind glass and the lighting is low in many areas of the gallery so my photography does not do justice to many of the pieces but even with the poor grade photos, editing and reviewing my Girard Wing images got me excited and inspired all over again!  The variety of materials used to create the works vary from wood, clay, paper mache, straw, wire, cloth, stone, wool, dried flowers, paper, icing, beads and various metals.  The scale of the figures vary from 2cm. to 30 cm. tall.

1. The Amazing

Heaven

Hell

Day of the Dead…..

Icing

2. The Beautiful

Cut paper….

Plan for a wall mural.

3. Amusing

Looks like the Last Supper meets the Seven Dwarfs.

Liberace’s inspiration?

Bette Midler?  Meryl Streep?

Mary Tyler Moore/Laura Petrie?

Whoa….Call the Midwife…that head!!!!

David Cronenberg, are you seeing this?

Does this remind you of anyone?

The twelve dollar entrance fee also covers the entrance to neighbouring gallery “Museum of Indian Arts and Culture”. The sculpture gardens, seating areas and restaurant are connected by a beautiful terrace overlooking the mountains.

If you have never visited Santa Fe, do!