Zozobra and Our Lady of Peace

This exhibition celebrates significant milestones for two of Santa Fe’s most enduring icons: the 100th anniversary of Zozobra and the 400th anniversary of Our Lady of Peace or La Conquistadora. This exhibition features contemporary artworks inspired by both of these historic figures in celebration of their enduring legacies.

Zozobra – the personification of worry and negativity – is the center of one of Santa Fe’s most beloved traditions. Every year, before the Santa Fe Fiesta, onlookers gather to watch a 50-foot effigy of the monster face off against the Fire Spirit, the embodiment of positivity and strength portrayed by a local dancer. Leading up to the event, Santa Feans submit their “glooms” – anything bringing them anxiety, anger, or sadness – on slips of paper to be stuffed inside Zozobra. When he is defeated and burned down by the Fire Spirit, these glooms are reduced to ashes, making way for joy and renewal.

Our Lady of Peace is thought to be the oldest icon of the Virgin Mary in the United States, first brought to New Mexico in 1626. The icon was removed for safekeeping during the 1680 Pueblo Revolt and was returned in 1692 by Don Diego de Vargas when he reconquered Santa Fe. The original Fiesta de Santa Fe was created to celebrate this reconquest and La Conquistadora. Traditions honoring Our Lady of Peace have taken various forms, the most recent being the Entrada pageant, devised in the 1910s in part to attract tourists. Our Lady of Peace is still honored by many in Santa Fe, who pray and leave offerings to her in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It is traditional to give robes, jewelry, and wigs to Our Lady of Peace.

Zozobra and Our Lady of Peace explores how these icons have inspired the popular imagination in New Mexico and created new artistic traditions.