New hours soon - 5/20/13
Starting May 27th (Memorial Day) the New Mexico Museum of Art will be open on Mondays from 10am - 5pm until Labor Day, Monday, September 2.
New library catalog - 5/10/13
The New Mexico Museum of Art Library has a new online catalog for looking up materials that the library currently holds. We are part of a group of libraries in New Mexico sharing the catalog, called SALSA. This way you can simultaneously search our collections and those of other libraries, if you choose.
The new SALSA has several enhanced features such as online tips for how to search or browse the catalog, the ability to search for materials by format (such as DVD, manuscript or periodical) and suggested search terms that automatically come up when you type something in the search box. Although everything that the Library owns is not currently listed in the catalog, we are constantly adding more information. If you have any questions about the catalog, please feel free to ask the Librarian, Rebecca Potance.
Taste of Sarkisian show - 4/30/13
The University of Wyoming Art Museum organized the upcoming show on Peter Sarkisian. To get a taste of what our show will be like, check out this video the UW Art Museum uploaded in 2010:
Celebrate Earth Day- 4/17/2013
Many artists have been inspired by the landscape in New Mexico. With April 22nd being Earth Day, you can celebrate Mother Nature by exploring some of our beautiful environmentally-themed exhibitions on the website, such as 2011's Earth Now.
Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award - 3/26/13
Our Curator of 20th Century Art, Joseph Traugott, has won the Ralph Emerson Twitchell Award given by the Historical Society of New Mexico for his book, New Mexico Art Through Time: Prehistory to the Present. This prestigious award is given for an outstanding publication or significant contribution by individuals or organizations to the creative arts, as related to New Mexico history. This is the second time Joseph Traugott has won this award for his insightful and well-researched writing. He received the 2008 Ralph Emerson Twitchell award for his book, The Art of New Mexico: How the West is One. Joseph Traugott will be honored at the awards banquet held at the annual meeting of the Historical Society of New Mexico in Las Cruces.
Book sale donations wanted - 3/6/13
The NM Museum of Art is preparing for its annual Book Sale, to be held on Sat. June 15, 2013. We will be accepting donations until June 2nd this year.
You can help by donating your books on Art, Photography, Architecture, and the Southwest. We will not be collecting any fiction, paperback, young adult or children's books. We are also looking for volunteers to help us manage the sale.
Please drop off donations at the Museum's front desk to deliver to the Librarian, Rebecca Potance. If you need a ride, please call Lorainne Rotunno at 505-476-5069 in order to schedule a pickup. If you have any questions about the event, call Rebecca Potance at 505-476-5061 or email rebecca.potance@state.nm.us
The proceeds from this sale will benefit the New Mexico Museum of Art.
The Baumann Marionettes Go 3D! - 2/27/13
Today's blog post comes to you from our Chief Registrar, Michelle Gallagher Roberts:
The New Mexico Museum of Art owns almost 1800 works (including woodblock prints, paintings, drawings, gouaches, marionettes, sculpture and furniture) by Gustave Baumann (1881 – 1971) – the largest representation by a single artist in the collection. The NM Museum of Art owns around 75 marionettes by Baumann. They are a much loved feature in the Santa Fe community. There has been book, The Hand-Carved Marionettes of Gustave Baumann: Share Their World, and an exhibit, Pulling Strings: the Marionettes and Art of Gustave Baumann (1/30/2009 – 5/10/2009), focused just on this one aspect of Baumann’s prolific career. Every year hundreds of people pack themselves into St. Francis Auditorium for two Christmas shows featuring replicas of the Baumann marionettes. The originals are just too fragile to withstand handling or performances.
The New Mexico Museum of Art was recently contacted by Miriam Langer, Associate Professor of Media Arts, about creating a partnership with the Department of Media & Technology at Highlands University. They proposed creating a three-dimensional model of the Gustave Baumann marionettes. Highland University programming students would then use Kinect (think Wii or Xbox) to allow visitors to virtually manipulate the marionettes with hand gestures in an interactive museum experience. For the first time in decades visitors would be allowed to operate the puppets and to see them in the round (albeit digitally).
Over a hundred photographs will be taken of each marionette. In the first round, about six puppets will undergo this process. The programmers will then use those images to create the three-dimensional model. Elaborate lighting and hanging set ups are required in order to ensure an even and consistent look to each image. If the lighting or marionette moves, the computer won’t be able to understand those images in relation to the others.
In addition to the interactive experience which can be offered to the museum visitor, we’ll also be offering the three-dimensional models online as a part of the Museum’s Searchable Art Museum. Researchers (and the curious!) will be able to twirl the marionettes around and view them from all sides. They will no longer be restricted to viewing just one angle.
We just completed the dress rehearsal of the photo shoot using the replicas. We wanted to make sure we had all the bugs worked out before starting the process with the fragile originals. Stay tuned for more information on the progress of this exciting new development in the life of the marionettes.
Zen and the Art of Calligraphy
On Tuesday the 26th, the Saint Francis Auditorium will be hosting an event wherein Shodo Harada Roshi will explain and demonstrate the process of Zen calligraphy. To give you a taste of what to expect, you can view this short video of Zen master Roshi from 2005 below. This is an incredible opportunity to learn about this unique artform, speak with the Roshi and purchase his scrolls or books such as Moon by the Window: The Calligraphy and Zen Insights of Shodo Harada.
Georgia O'Keeffe's birthday - 11/15/2012
In celebration of Georgia O’Keeffe’s 125th birthday today, we’re sharing these images with you online. Wherever you are in the world, you can see 8 images from our collection on SAM. Or you can see some of our works in person – enjoy!
In Santa Fe - Desert Abstraction (Bear Lake) is on display at the Governor’s Residence in Santa Fe.
At the New Mexico Museum of Art you can see Pedernal with Red Hills (Red Hills with the Pedernal), In the Patio, II, Spring Tree No. 1, Dark and Lavender Leaves, Landscape on Lake George (Lake George, New York), and a photograph of Todd Webb.
Or on exhibit at the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey until January 13, 2013, you can see Chama River, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico (Blue River).
