MISSION STATEMENT | HISTORY | BOARDS AT THE HARWOOD MUSEUM

Mission Statement
The Harwood Museum of Art of the University of New Mexico preserves, collects and exhibits historic and contemporary art and culture of the Taos region. The Museum stimulates learning, creativity and research for the Taos community and all who share an interest in the arts, while reinforcing the University's academic mission. The Harwood Museum of Art presents Taos art to the world and world art to Taos.

History
In 1997, the Harwood Museum underwent a major 1.5 million dollar renovation project, expanding from two to seven galleries. The Museum continues to serve as a valuable resource for the region with its exhibition program and its growing permanent collection, and by providing a research facility for many scholars, educators, authors and students. Since its creation in 1923, the Harwood has enriched the lives of many visitors from around the world and has played a vital role in the cultural life of Taos and northern New Mexico.

A Brief History of the Colony

The end of the 19th Century had seen the rise of large urban areas due to the industrialization of Europe and the United States, a new middle class, and the amassing of huge fortunes contrasted with large numbers of people at the poverty level. Many people became disenchanted with urban extremes and excesses and began to look to the primitive and exotic life styles as an idyllic and romantic counter to the industrialized society. Paul Gauguin went first to Normandy and then to Tahiti in search of the simple life and a more naive people. Artists such as Frederic Remington, Thomas Moran and George Catlin, in America, only had to go west of the Mississippi to encounter Native American tribes and the western lifestyle.

Many of the artists that came to Taos in the early part of the 20th Century and after World War I were drawn to the area's cultural mix and lifestyle. Most of them had studied in Europe and, even while in Paris, heard about Taos as an exotic and beautiful place.

Later in the century during the post World War II period, artistic attitudes in Taos changed with the influx of artists from both the East and West Coasts, bringing with them progressive ideas of the avant garde and a search for a particular vision of American modernism.

In the late sixties and early seventies, the Vietnam War and its anti-war culture brought still another changing attitude to the Taos (art) scene. The arrival of Dennis Hopper and a new influx of artists from the West Coast, a stronger emphasis on the crafts, and the subculture's search for a simple lifestyle had a profound impact on northern New Mexico and Taos in particular.

The last two decades of the 20th Century have seen a booming art market that has brought another group of artists to Taos and northern New Mexico, artists that are well established in the national and international art world and can spend part or all of the year working in Taos while showing their work in major markets in the U.S. and Europe.

Thus, contrary to many peoples' vision of Taos as an isolated art colony living outside of the mainstream of American art, we find a core of the art community that has historically participated in and contributed to the art scenes of both the East and West coasts.

The Harwood collection increasingly documents this relationship of the broader art world and the artists of Taos and northern New Mexico.

A Brief History of The Harwood Museum 1916-1922

In the early part of the 20th Century, many artists were drawn to the Taos area to pursue a new, truly American art devoid of industrial influence, inspired instead by New Mexico's landscape and light and the traditional Native American and Hispanic cultures of the region.

The Harwood Museum collection brings to the public a unique record of this artistic convergence from its beginnings to the present day. The embracing spirit of the Harwood was established by artists Burt and Elizabeth Harwood. In 1916, the Harwoods left their residence in France to move to Taos. They immediately purchased the Ledoux Street property which contained several small adobe buildings. By 1918, significant development had taken place under Burt Harwood's direction. He remodeled the buildings using many local traditional construction techniques. The Harwood complex, then called El Pueblito, was on the forefront of the Pueblo/Spanish Revival and restoration movement in New Mexico.

The Early Harwood Foundation 1923-1935

From the beginning, the Harwoods' home was the town's only library. When the Harwoods discovered Taos had no library, they opened their extensive private collection of books to the public. By 1926, the Harwood Library was established and the community generously supported the growth of its collections. Mabel Dodge Luhan donated books from her private collection, contributed funds, and inspired other major support.

From 1924 on, much of the Harwood was given over to exhibitions. Even into the 1970s, clay pots, Native American artifacts, Hispanic textiles, Patrociño Barela's wood sculptures, 19th Century retablos, and a cannonball said to have come from the 1847 bombardment of Taos Pueblo adorned the Library, offices and hallways.

The University of New Mexico 1935-1945

In 1935, the Harwood Foundation was given to the University of New Mexico (UNM). As part of UNM, the Harwood received core support from the University and functioned as a base for University programs in Taos County. The Harwood's potential as an educational institution had interested the University as early as 1929 when it opened its Field School of Art at the Harwood, a program which continued for twenty-six years.

In 1937, UNM and the Works Projects Administration (WPA), working in cooperation to create an enhanced facility, embarked on a major expansion and renovation project of the Harwood complex. Designed by John Gaw Meem, one of the best known architects of the Southwest, the Harwood addition became one of the tallest adobe structures in northern New Mexico, and included an auditorium, stage, exhibition space, and a library facility.

The Harwood 1945-Present

After World War II, Taos and the Harwood entered a new phase as embrace new trends in American Art. The Harwood strives to fulfill its educational mission by presenting special lectures, offering docent tours, and working with local schools and community groups with a variety of special programs. We continue to expand our vision as a cultural center that presents the art of our region while also serving as an important educational asset to northern New Mexico.

image - Victor Higgins (1884-1949), "Untitled" (Harwood House), ca. 1937, watercolor, 21 1/2 x 30, Gift of the Artist.

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Boards and Support Groups at the Harwood Museum of Art

Harwood Governing Board
Lawrence Berkowitz
Gus Foster
Wynn Goering
David Harris
Dr. Kate O'Neill
Charles Strong
Michael Sudbury
Linda Warning

Harwood Museum Alliance
Michelle Cooke
Genevieve DeVellis
Kay Fancher
Trish Johnston
Juniper Manley
Julia Moore
Frank Oatman
Ann Quinn
Lisa Sharp
Ida Sprague
Michael Sudbury

Harwood Director's Circle
Jack Barrett
Robert Bell
Barry & Natalie Beller
Mary Ann Smothers Bruni
Rosamaria Clark
Robert Ellis
Maryann Evans
David & Carol Farmer
Lucille Grieder
Olivia Hill
Dorothy Hudson
Lawrencec Lazarus
Nancy Main
Frank & Joy Purcell
Joyce & Sherman Scott
Susan Streeper

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