Taos Visitor Center to reopen Tuesday
Returning as showcase for Taos Pueblo artisans
Artisans from Taos Pueblo are getting ready for a planned Tuesday (March 29) opening of a new art market in the old Taos Visitor Center, located at 1201 Paseo del Pueblo Sur at the intersection with Paseo del Cañon East. Tentative hours will be Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The official name of the new venture is “Taos Pueblo Collective: Art Market and Information Center.” Karina Armijo, director of marketing and tourism for the Town of Taos, said this week that the venue is billed as “a collaboration between the town of Taos and Taos Pueblo dedicated to building awareness about our community and supporting local businesses and artists in the region.”
The Collective may change its hours as the summer season approaches, but that will depend on staffing, she added. March
29 is considered a soft opening. A special grand opening will be announced soon.
“We were trying to get people in as soon as possible,” Taos Pueblo Tourism Office Director Ilona Spruce said, especially after COVID-19 cases significantly dropped and native religious doings concluded. But, in some cases, artists just didn’t have the inventory needed to open a space at the visitor center. “I don’t have any stuff,” or, “I’ll be ready in a week,” were refrains sometimes heard, she said.
The Millicent Rogers Museum has also done their part by installing the just-concluded Taos Pueblo Artisans Winter Showcase. “It was no question when Taos Pueblo decided to close to the public that the museum would collaborate on this project to continue the initiative,” a museum statement reads.
The historic Taos Pueblo itself, a UNESCO World Heritage site, remains closed until further notice. It closed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Due to the closure, many artists found themselves without a source of income from sales to tourists.
“So, we’re also using it as a kind of information hub, just working with the town to see how this goes,” Spruce said.
Taos Pueblo Governor Clyde Romero signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 17, and the Taos Town Council approved the agreement at its regular meeting on Feb. 22, according to a Feb. 24 Taos News story. At the time, it was suggested the venue might open before spring break, which concluded last week.
The new venue will be handled like a market where individual artists present their own products. “They’ll have their own booth and take care of their own everything. Basically, we’re just working to provide the space and kind of the direction,” Spruce said.
Each person will be in charge of their own sales and gross receipts taxes.
“I think we can create a really cool space, where artists [and the public] can interact and help to mend the sadness of tourists when they find out that the pueblo isn’t open,” Spruce said. Adding the informational component is also seen as a big plus because visitors will be able to avoid some of the errors that sometimes float around about the pueblo and its people. “There’s actually face-to-face [time] with tribal members and they get to take a little bit of something home with them.”
Tribal members in need of additional information or who would like to register can contact Spruce at 575-776-7445 or email taospueblocollective@gmail.com. There is also information on the Taos Pueblo Facebook page.