Museum guide
Welcoming a revival of art and artifacts
As Santa Fe artfully stages its comeback, several museums are offering new exhibits and reopening those temporarily closed. The result is a reawakening of the cultural, historical, and artistic riches that make Santa Fe a unique destination. Below is a sampling that includes new sculptures of glass and clay, a palace steeped in history, and even the art of the mask. (Check websites for any changes or additions.)
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture 710 Camino Lejo, 505-476-1269, indianartsandculture.org
Reflections on glass
The exhibit Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass rightfully claims to represent “the flowering of glass art in Indian country.” It reflects two movements that emerged in the 1960s: the contemporary Native arts movement, led by Lloyd Kiva New, a founder of the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA), and the studio glass movement, founded by celebrated American artists such as Dale Chihuly. The exhibit features works made at the first IAIA “hot shop,” built by Chihuly, who started the glass program at IAIA. Highlighting glass by Indigenous artists, the exhibit includes work by 29 US and Canadian artists from 26 tribes, as well as artists from Pacific Rim countries, Australia and New Zealand. The result is a varied collection of glassworks in unexpected shapes and sizes. Huge vases and bowls range from crystal clear to multicolored, some adorned with the patterns of traditional pottery and textiles as well as new embellishments. In sections called “Animals of the Sky” and “Gifts from the Sea,” large glass creatures float, suspended from the ceiling.
Clearly Indigenous can be seen through June 16, 2022.