A second floor exhibition room in the New Mexico Museum of Art. Photo by Jim Schnur.
A visit to New Mexico's capital city, Santa Fe, affords an opportunity to enjoy a variety of museums and cultural settings. During a snowy March day, I caught the Rail Runner to Santa Fe with a New Mexico CulturePass from my local public library in hand to visit some museums and the main branch of the public library. The CulturePass allows residents to visit a variety of historic sites in the state for free.
After arriving at the Santa Fe Depot, I headed to the heart of the city. Photo by Jim Schnur.
I traveled to Santa Fe on a Saturday, so I made a quick visit to the year-round Farmers' Market at the Railyard. After that, I enjoyed the morning walk to Santa Fe Plaza.
A quiet morning in Santa Fe's downtown plaza. Photo by Jim Schnur.
New Mexico History Museum
More than the state's premiere history museum, the site of the New Mexico History Museum holds great significance as a seat of colonial governance under Spanish rule that began here in 1610. The museum includes the main exhibits secured in the Pete Domenici Building (opened in 2009), the photo and research archives housed at the Chavez Library (built in 1907, and the one-time city public library), and the Palace of the Governors (built in 1610 under the Spanish Crown).
The main entrance to the New Mexico History Museum on Lincoln Avenue. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The Washington Avenue entrance is between the Chavez Library and Palace of the Governors and a few steps from the current main branch of the Santa Fe Public Library. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The museum addresses the various histories that define New Mexico as a land settled by Indigenous peoples thousands of years ago, visited and occupied by soldiers and settlers loyal to the Spanish Crown, maintained as a northern extension of the newly-established nation of Mexico in 1821, and later incorporated as a territory and state in the United States.
In other areas of the United States along the Spanish borderlands, including Florida, popular historical perceptions often meld the Pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial periods. The period prior to American colonization/statehood is often treated as a "then-and-now" that minimizes the battles and struggles between Native Americans and the original Spanish colonists.
Exhibits respectfully explain the complicated colonial era. Photo by Jim Schnur.
This museum handles the successive waves of human settlement and governance in a very tactful way. At a time when national conversations tend to downplay diversity, this museum carefully respects and curates the many voices that have shaped the area's history.
Exhibits describe the Mexican-American War from the perspectives of American colonists, ambitious Texans, Mexican administrators, longstanding families of Spanish ancestry, and the original Indigenous residents. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Japanese internment camps, Navajo and other Indigenous code-talkers, and other topics are carefully explained and preserved to illustrate the important history some wish to forget. Photo by Jim Schnur.
One could easily spend the better part of the day within this museum. Although I did not have a chance to join a docent-led tour, I found all of the exhibits within the main building to be well-designed, with labels that told the story in a way that both a casual visitor and professional historian could appreciate.
A walk in a small courtyard takes visitors from a 2009 building to one built nearly 400 years earlier. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Palace of the Governors at the History Museum
The Palace of the Governors sits immediately north of the Santa Fe Plaza. Long a place of gathering and governance, the Palace is the oldest public structure of European origin in continuous use that exists within the continental United States (thus, excluding Puerto Rico).
Indigenous crafters are a common sight at the Palace of the Governors. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Although Spanish conquistadors visited Florida by 1513 and colonized St. Augustine in 1565--before Santa Fe existed--no significant structures of European origin remain in Florida from this period. Indeed, construction of the Castillo de San Marcos--the oldest fortress of its kind in the continental US--did not begin until the early 1670s, when Spain had growing concerns about the British colonies to the north of St. Augustine.
A door to the courtyard between the newer museum building and the Palace of the Governors along Lincoln Avenue. Photo by Jim Schnur.
A portion of the Palace of the Governors describes its historical archaeology. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The current Palace has experienced significant transformations since work began on it in or around 1610. The governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico, Pedro de Peralta, oversaw the construction of a colonial administration building for the expansion of New Spain that extended from Texas to Nevada.
Although the structure changed throughout the years, it remained a seat of government from the time of the Spanish Crown, through the Pueblo Revolt (1680-1692), under the Mexican flag, and during the American territorial period.
A glass window on the floor reveals the earlier architecture of the Palace. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The Palace became the home of the Museum of New Mexico in 1909, three years before statehood. Though governance no longer takes place at this building, its importance in telling the history of settlement in the upper reaches of New Spain and the Southwestern United States has not changed.
The building's southwest corner describes the building's historical footprint, as Indigenous craftspeople show their jewelry and fine works on the other side of the window. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Once the administrative offices for an empire, these spaces now preserve history. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Wall paintings offer a reflection of the views from this location centuries ago. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Fine details reveal the Spanish-Pueblo architectural style. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Combining the past with our future: A National History Day exhibit. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Rotating exhibits appear in some of the galleries. A powerful exhibit by two New Mexico high school graduates describes a difficult chapter in American history along the border. After a 1917 typhus outbreak, American officials decided to use kerosene "gas baths" on Mexican workers crossing the border.
Similar to the cattle dipping vats used throughout America to kill parasites, Mexican workers who came to America as part of the Bracero Program into the early 1960s were sometimes subjected to these "gas baths."
The exhibit described the use of Zyklon B in the Bracero Program, a chemical also used against humans by the Nazis in Germany during World War II. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The exhibit described Tom Lea, an Anglo mayor of El Paso, who regularly acted as a border czar during the late 1910s and required "delousing" and quarantining of Mexican immigrants in his city.
A section of the Palace shows the earlier walls of the structure. Photo by Jim Schnur.
New Mexico Museum of Art
One of four state-operated museums in Santa Fe, the New Mexico Museum of Art occupies a Pueblo Revival building that opened in 1917. The first museum devoted to the state's art, this structure includes galleries with changing exhibits and a courtyard that amplifies the Southwest style.
The New Mexico Museum of Art is immediately northwest of the plaza. Photo by Jim Schnur,
Located on West Palace Avenue, the museum sits on land located immediately west of the Palace of the Governors.
A February view of the art museum, with the Spitz Clock under the streetlight. Photo by Jim Schnur.
A version of the Spitz Clock has sat at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and West Palace since the 1880s. The original Spitz Jewelry Store "clock" lacked moving pieces, and was replaced by a functioning clock that operated until 1915, when a truck drove into it. The current clock is a well-known landmark across the street from the Santa Fe Plaza.
Sculpted works by Eugenie Shonnard near the entrance. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Shonnard spent time using studio space at this museum to craft a number of works that highlighted the Indigenous cultures of New Mexico. This exhibit reveals the artistic transitions during her career and how New Mexico's landscape, Native Peoples, and the Catholic Church influenced her work.
Iconographic works by Shonnard in the gallery. Photo by Jim Schnur.
A colorful representation of Indigenous people in the American Southwest. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Busts created by Shonnard in the mid and late 1920s while in New Mexico. Photo by Jim Schnur.
During my visit, there were other exhibits that focused on representations of life in Taos and the Los Angeles area, selections from the museum's 20th Century collections, and Off Center: New Mexico Art, 1970-2000.
Stepping out into the courtyard. Photo by Jim Schnur.
A visit to the open-air courtyard offered a moment in the snow, and a chance to enjoy some murals painted more than 90 years ago. As part of the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the museum commissioned local artist Will Shuster to paint six murals in 1934.
Shuster's murals in the background, with a ristra on the right. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Shuster arrived in New Mexico in 1920, after serving in World War I. Known in Santa Fe as one of Los Cinco Pintores (The Five Painters), Shuster also was involved in the planning of the annual burning of Zozobra.
"Winnowing Wheat," by Will Shuster, 1934. Photo by Jim Schnur.
"Pottery Making," by Will Shuster, 1934. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Despite their exposure to the year-round outdoor elements, the Shuster murals remain impeccable in their appearance. The curators do an excellent job of maintaining all of the museum's collections.
Shuster's "Voice of the Earth" shows life on the Pueblo near a Kiva. Photo by Jim Schnur.
One last view of a mural at the New Mexico Museum of Art. Photo by Jim Schnur.
Reflecting on the Landscape
Economists often describe New Mexico as one of the most impoverished states in our nation. While many struggle to make ends meet in the Land of Enchantment, there is no lack of artistic talent or history in this part of the world.
A view of the Sandia Mountains from the window of the Rail Runner while passing through the Kewa Pueblo. Photo by Jim Schnur.
The art and history museums we enjoyed during this visit reflect the many waves of human contact since the Spanish colonial era, as well as how geographic forces have shaped the lives of those who live and visit here.
Back at the Bernalillo station, planning my next adventure. Photo by Jim Schnur.
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