Tag Archives: Santa Fe

Checking Out the Museums of Santa Fe

After driving all day the day before, we had no desire to drive anywhere so walked on down to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum downtown and checked that out again.

A painting she did in 1970 well after she moved to New Mexico. Showing she still was interested in urban scenes.

Another painting she did outside of New Mexico. This one was done in Quebec.

And this one was a favorite, based in flowers she saw in the desert of New Mexico. She didn’t find a luxurious flower plot like this. She took common flowers and bunched them together.l

This is a quote from her written on the museum wall. Obviously flowers had an economic advantage over using live model.

Then we wandered over to the nearby Institute of American Indian Arts We had never been there before and it was very interesting. The art was great and a lot of it was about recovering Native Identity and rejecting attempts by outsiders of describing who Native Americans are. I’m sure I’m butchering the intention and I apologize for that.

What Have We Become? Basic Assumptions, 2017

Much of it was text based. I loved the pair of works above and below named: “What Have We Become? Basic Assumptions” where face is carved out of an Anthropology journal.

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The canoe above suspended from the ceiling was built out of paper. The young man underneath the canoe is my son.

These are just two museums. Santa Fe has many many more, plus the art galleries.

I am linking this with Through My Lens.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Palace of the Governors

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One of my favorite places in Santa Fe is the covered walkway at the Palace of the Governors. For my whole life I have seen Native American vendors setting up to display and sell their jewelry. This time I saw a guy, looking like an inspector of some sort, checking out all the vendors and filling out a checklist. I also noticed that each vendor area is numbered so I got to wondering how are these vendors regulated. Was the jewelry made by Native Americans? I had so many questions.

So I checked the interwebs and it turns out the vendors displaying their wares are very tightly regulated via the Native American Portal Program administered by the New Mexico History Museum. The vendors must be a member of recognized tribe and they have to show technical mastery of their skills and crafts. All sold items must be handmade by the vendor or a member of their household, using traditional methods and materials (e.g., turquoise, coral, silver, beadwork). I’m thinking that the jewelry on sale is legit. Up to you to get a good price for it though.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico

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The first thing we looked at in Santa Fe during our recent vacation was the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi right adjacent to our hotel.

Franciscan Friars and settlers came to the area in 1598 and in 1610 the city of Santa Fe was established and the first church was built. The church was destroyed in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt. The Spanish returned in1693 and by 1714-1717 a new church in honor of Saint Francis was established. In 1853 the Diocese of Santa Fe was established and construction started on the Cathedral in 1869. It was dedicated in 1887. Complete except the spires were not funded and never built.

Almost all the buildings in downtown Santa Fe are adobe or faux adobe. The Cathedral is of Neo-Romanesque design with round arches and Corinthian columns. It’s quite beautiful inside and out.

Kateri Tekakwitha - First Female Native American Saint

On the grounds of the Cathedral is statue of Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680). The first Indigenous American Saint. Canonized in 2012, she is known as the Patron Saint of Ecology. She had a Mohawk father and a Christianized Algonquin mother You can read more about her here.

The grounds have a Station of the Cross installation that is very powerful.

On Cathedral Square is this sculpture honoring the priests and settlers who came and claimed the area for Spain.

Saint Francis of Assisi himself.

And a ceramic installation of the Virgin of Guadaloupe.

The inside of the church is gorgeous. It is a very active church with many different activities for members and non-members and is welcoming to all. Check out their website for more information.

The sanctuary is very peaceful and there were a lot of people praying during out visit.

I love all the stained glass windows. They are beautiful.

I am linking with Through My Lens

The Story Behind Saint Francis Dancing on Water

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We had our family vacation earlier this month. Our first stop was Santa Fe, New Mexico. The morning after we got there we were eager to get outside and walk around because driving from Tulsa to Santa Fe takes a long time. Our first stop was the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi which is in the middle of downtown and adjoined out hotel. We were a little early for the Cathedral to open so we walked around the grounds of the Cathedral. I’m always looking for shadows and I came upon this sculpture.

Saint Francis Dancing on Water Sculpture - edited

It made a great shadow and the adjoining plaque said it depicts Saint Francis dancing on water. And it was like, what!?!? I am not Catholic but every depiction I have seen of Saint Francis of Assisi is that he was a very serious guy. I have never seen a painting or a sculpture of him being joyful. So that kind of jarred my thought process and I thought I have to go check this out.

It turns out that it is a different Saint Francis, Saint Francis of Paola, a Franciscan hermit, who modeled his life after his namesake from Assisi. He is most known for his crossing the Straits of Messina. He didn’t have enough money to take a ferry so he prayed and blessed the sea and then laid his coat down and walked across the Straits. Because of this miracle, he is regarded as the patron saint of boatmen, mariners, and sailors. I call him the Joyful Saint Francis.

I love finding out stuff like this. The interwebs can be fun!!

I am linking to Shadow Shot Sunday

My Corner of the World – The Loretto Chapel of Santa Fe

On our New Mexico vacation I finally got to go see something I had never seen before inside the Loretto Chapel. The chapel, built in the Gothic Revival style, was constructed between 1873 to 1878 and was part of Catholic girls school, the Loretto Academy, that went out of business in the 1960’s. The diocese sold it to a private company in 1968 and the girls school was demolished.

Inside the chapel is this famous miraculous staircase. It is a two full turn spiral staircase ascending to the choir loft at the back of the church. It is a beautiful and impressive sight but I’m pretty sure it is not miraculous. I tell the amazing part to me is that it didn’t have handrails when it was first constructed.

The chapel is now an event space and a kind of museum. There is a small fee for entering and you can take all the non-commercial photos you desire. It is in excellent shape. The altar above is impeccable. If you want you can book your wedding there!!

I love this statue of Jesus. One can go to the gift store to buy candles to burn here.

I’m guessing this is Mary. Again exquisite. I’m a lifelong protestant and their art is all abstract. The art in Catholic churches, chapels, and hospitals, is very emotional and colorful and engaging. (In my opinion.)

The stained glass is gorgeous.

They even had a confessional booth. I asked son Logan if he had anything he wanted to tell me. He said no.

So I’ve been looking at photos of that staircase for decades and finally go to see it!! Check!

I’m linking with My Corner of the World.

References:

Wikipedia

Loretto Chapel Site

Grunge

Skywatch Friday – The Skies of Santa Fe

On our recent New Mexico vacation we spend just one full day in Santa Fe before returning home. But we saw and did a lot in that one afternoon, and one full day afterward.

The monsoon was going on so every afternoon it would cloud up and rain. Usually just a little bit but on our final evening we had to call the hotel for help so they sent their shuttle. Saved us from getting soaking wet.

Santa Fe is a mixture of the old and the new. I remember as a little kid living in Coyote and mom would take us shopping in Santa Fe. Those art galleries and fancy shops that are there now? They used to be Woolworths, JC Penney’s, Western Auto. Lots of tourists back then as well but Santa Fe was a town where regular people lived.

It’s got some great museums. This is the courtyard at the New Mexico Museum of Art.

And food. I forget just how much I like New Mexican food until I go back. How about some chicken enchiladas with green chili sauce for lunch?

And history? Ancient history and modern history. I saw this little plaque at the back of a store. 109 East Palace was the address where everybody who worked at Los Alamos during the World War I first reported to duty. I read a book about the goings on, 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos by Jennet Conant I love reading about the makings of the Atomic Bomb way back when. It was a huge nationwide effort and involved lots of people. My mother worked as a secretary at the Hanford Nuclear Works in Washington which used a reactor to produce plutonium and chemical processing to enrich it. Plutonium from Hanford was used in the first atomic explosion in New Mexico at the Trinity site.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

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