As part of the special exhibition Debbie Long: Light Ships, up to three people at a time may experience one-hour immersive viewings of Willa, a chamber of light and glass installed inside a 1970s RV. The viewings are an opportunity to disconnect from devices so that you may awaken to the natural rhythms of the sky and subtle play of light through the lens of Willa.

Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before your entry time and reserve an additional hour to view the rest of the exhibition and Harwood collections. The Willa viewing experience is included with admission, which must be paid upon arrival at the museum.

It is the artist’s intention that this be an unmediated experience without the disruption of cameras or cellphones. Photography is not permitted, and we ask that you silence all devices during the viewings

We invite you to bring just yourself to the Willa viewings. The interior space is small, so all bags and other personal belongings must be left in the secured lockers inside the museum. Everyone must remove their shoes, and we ask that you remain seated. Please explore the fragile glass sculptures with your eyes and not your hands. Thank you for respecting these guidelines to create an immersive, embodied experience for all.

Experiment with new ways to express yourself at Teen Art Lab! This program is designed for artists ages 13-19 to explore the museum and find inspiration to create a work of art. Each week will feature a different theme drawn from current exhibitions and chance to hone a creative skill. Painting, sketching, sculpting, collage, writing … artists will have the opportunity to inspire, be inspired, and find their voice through art.

Drop-in for a session or sign-up for the whole series. $20 per session or $100 for all 6. Materials included. The Harwood is committed to providing equitable access to programming. Contact education@harwoodmuseum.org for information about available scholarships.

The Harwood is excited to announce the return of First Fridays. All are welcome to visit the museum FREE of charge between 5pm and 7pm every first Friday of the month this summer. Meet new friends, liven up “date night,” or introduce the whole family to our inspiring collections. Each month there will be different activities, performances, and opportunities to connect with the creative community in Taos. Come experience internationally acclaimed art in the historic setting of our local museum.

FEATURED IN JUNE:

• Music by Kim Treiber and Chipper Thompson
• Drop-In Sketching
• Spotlight talks on featured artworks by museum staff

Photo by Andrew Yates featuring Torso by Ron Cooper and Six-Ninths Red by Ronald Davis.

Experiment with new ways to express yourself at Teen Art Lab! This program is designed for artists ages 13-19 to explore the museum and find inspiration to create a work of art. Each week will feature a different theme drawn from current exhibitions and chance to hone a creative skill. Painting, sketching, sculpting, collage, writing … artists will have the opportunity to inspire, be inspired, and find their voice through art.

Drop-in for a session or sign-up for the whole series. $20 per session. Materials included. The Harwood is committed to providing equitable access to programming. Contact education@harwoodmuseum.org for information about available scholarships.

A limited number of in-person tickets are available for this special event featuring a panel of speakers involved in the fight to return Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo. They will share their personal stories and remembrances. This discussion brings together different perspectives from Taos Pueblo, the United States Congress, the White House, and the larger community of Indigenous rights activists and legal advocates. Virtual attendance is available by registering for the webinar here: https://bit.ly/BlueLakePanel.

On July 8, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon announced support for H.R. 471 as the first element of his new Indian Policy. Passed with bipartisan support in the United States Congress, Nixon signed the bill in to Public Law 91-550 on December 15, 1970, ending a 64-year struggle by Taos Pueblo for return of lands vital to their culture and way of life. The legislative battle waged by Taos Pueblo symbolized a success and justice in the Native American struggle for religious freedom and protection of sacred lands.

This program is a collaboration between the Harwood Museum of Art, Taos Pueblo Tribal Government, and the Blue Lake Commemoration Team. Delayed multiple times for circumstances beyond control, we are delighted to once again offer this virtual event in belated support of the past exhibition, Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Return of Blue Lake: A New Day for American Indians.

Panel Bios

Mr. Gilbert Suazo, Sr. (moderator), a Taos Pueblo tribal member, served as Governor in 2007 and 2018, and is a lifetime Tribal Council member. In the 1960s Gilbert, as a member of the younger generation, actively supported the tribe’s efforts for the return of Blue Lake. He testified at the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Hearings about Blue Lake in 1970 and participated as part of the Taos Pueblo delegation in the historic July 8, 1970 White House meeting when President Richard Nixon pledged his support to return Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo.

Sen. Fred Harris, who served as a U. S. Senator from Oklahoma (1964-1973), was the leader of successful Senate efforts to pass the landmark Taos Pueblo Blue Lake legislation. Now Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of New Mexico and a widely published author, he continues to teach in the UNM Fred Harris Congressional Internship Program.

Ms. LaDonna Harris, an enrolled citizen of the Comanche Nation, is founder and president of Americans for Indian Opportunity (www.aio.org). As a national leader, Harris has influenced the agendas of the civil rights, feminist, environmental, and world peace movements. She was a founding member of Common Cause and the National Urban Coalition and is an ardent spokesperson against poverty and for social injustice.

Ms. Bobbie Greene Kilberg is President and CEO Emeritus of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) and presently serves as Strategic Advisor to the Council. Kilberg served as a White House Fellow on the staff of President Nixon’s Domestic Policy Council and was instrumental in coordinating the White House’s support of Taos Pueblo’s Blue Lake legislation. She visited Taos Pueblo during the crucial final days of pending congressional action on the legislation and even rode on horseback to visit Blue Lake with Pueblo and other White House representatives.

Mr. Jerry Straus is an attorney in Washington, DC representing Indian Tribes for more than 57 years. In 1963, he was hired by Wilkingson, Cragun, and Barker, one of the few firms which then practiced Indian law in the District of Columbia. A notable highlight of Jerry’s career was his work in 1970 assisting Taos Pueblo in its successful effort to have Congress return its 48,000-acre sacred Blue Lake lands to them. This was the first time that such a large piece of land wrongfully taken by the United States was restored to the tribe.

Image credit: President Richard Nixon Signing H.R. 471 Blue Lake Bill Taos-Pueblo American Indian Land Deed. Governor Quirino Romero, Cacique Juan de Jesus Romero and Paul Bernal Witnessing, December 15, 1970 

On July 8, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon announced support for H.R. 471 as the first element of his new Indian Policy. Passed with bipartisan support in the United States Congress, Nixon signed the bill in to Public Law 91-550 on December 15, 1970, ending a 64-year struggle by Taos Pueblo for return of lands vital to their culture and way of life. The legislative battle waged by Taos Pueblo symbolized a success and justice in the Native American struggle for religious freedom and protection of sacred lands.

Join us for a virtual event featuring a panel of speakers involved in the fight, who will share their personal stories and remembrances. This discussion brings together different perspectives from Taos Pueblo, the United States Congress, the White House, and the larger community of Indigenous rights activists and legal advocates. Registration is required for this event: https://bit.ly/BlueLakePanel

This program is a collaboration between the Harwood Museum of Art, Taos Pueblo Tribal Government, and the Blue Lake Commemoration Team. Delayed multiple times for circumstances beyond control, we are delighted to once again offer this virtual event in belated support of the past exhibition, Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Return of Blue Lake: A New Day for American Indians.

Panel Bios

Mr. Gilbert Suazo, Sr. (moderator), a Taos Pueblo tribal member, served as Governor in 2007 and 2018, and is a lifetime Tribal Council member. In the 1960s Gilbert, as a member of the younger generation, actively supported the tribe’s efforts for the return of Blue Lake. He testified at the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Hearings about Blue Lake in 1970 and participated as part of the Taos Pueblo delegation in the historic July 8, 1970 White House meeting when President Richard Nixon pledged his support to return Blue Lake to Taos Pueblo.

Sen. Fred Harris, who served as a U. S. Senator from Oklahoma (1964-1973), was the leader of successful Senate efforts to pass the landmark Taos Pueblo Blue Lake legislation. Now Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of New Mexico and a widely published author, he continues to teach in the UNM Fred Harris Congressional Internship Program.

Ms. LaDonna Harris, an enrolled citizen of the Comanche Nation, is founder and president of Americans for Indian Opportunity (www.aio.org). As a national leader, Harris has influenced the agendas of the civil rights, feminist, environmental, and world peace movements. She was a founding member of Common Cause and the National Urban Coalition and is an ardent spokesperson against poverty and for social injustice.

Ms. Bobbie Greene Kilberg is President and CEO Emeritus of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) and presently serves as Strategic Advisor to the Council. Kilberg served as a White House Fellow on the staff of President Nixon’s Domestic Policy Council and was instrumental in coordinating the White House’s support of Taos Pueblo’s Blue Lake legislation. She visited Taos Pueblo during the crucial final days of pending congressional action on the legislation and even rode on horseback to visit Blue Lake with Pueblo and other White House representatives.

Mr. Jerry Straus is an attorney in Washington, DC representing Indian Tribes for more than 57 years. In 1963, he was hired by Wilkingson, Cragun, and Barker, one of the few firms which then practiced Indian law in the District of Columbia. A notable highlight of Jerry’s career was his work in 1970 assisting Taos Pueblo in its successful effort to have Congress return its 48,000-acre sacred Blue Lake lands to them. This was the first time that such a large piece of land wrongfully taken by the United States was restored to the tribe.

Image credit: President Richard Nixon Signing H.R. 471 Blue Lake Bill Taos-Pueblo American Indian Land Deed. Governor Quirino Romero, Cacique Juan de Jesus Romero and Paul Bernal Witnessing, December 15, 1970 

Join us for an insightful journey into exhibition curation as Tia Collection Curator Laura Finlay Smith and Curator MaLin Wilson-Powell discuss how they selected the spectacular works of art comprising New Beginnings: An American Story of Romantics and Modernists in the West. This exhibit features over 120 artworks inspired by New Mexico, dating from the late 19th to mid-20th century when Taos and Santa Fe were two of the nation’s most important art centers.  The evening’s conversation will stretch beyond the canvas, highlighting stories behind the works of art. This event will be moderated by the Harwood Museum’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Nicole Dial-Kay.

After almost 25 years as an art dealer, Laura Finaly-Smith became the curator of the Tia Collection, based in Santa Fe, NM, in 2012. The collection acts as an art lending library, working with institutions around the world, loaning artwork specific to exhibitions, as well as on long term loan. Broad in its collecting interests, Tia Collection acquires work in the following areas – French Impressionism, historic Western American art, South Asians works from the 16th century through the current day, and Post-War/Modern & Contemporary. Paintings, sculpture, photography, works on paper, video and installation works are all media represented in the collection.

MaLin Wilson-Powell is an independent writer and curator, active in the art world since 1972. As Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe (1977-78); assistant to photo-historian and McArthur Fellow Beaumont Newhall (1980-85); Director of the Jonson Gallery (1985-1989), then the contemporary branch of the University Art Museum, University of New Mexico (1985-89); and, the first Curator of Exhibitions and Curator of Art after 1945 at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio (1999-2004), her orientation has always been to encourage engagement with the arts audience as a public intellectual. She has curated over twenty-five exhibitions with publications; written over three hundred articles, and edited two collections ofart criticism: The Hydrogen Juke Box: Selected Writings of Peter Schjeldahl (1991; and Last Chance for Eden: Selected Art Criticism by Christopher Knight, 1979 -1993 (1995). She curated the major traveling exhibition and co-edited the publication Mabel Dodge Luhan and Company: American Moderns and the West (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2016).

Image Credit: Alexandre Hogue, ‘Across the Valley,’ 1929, Oil on canvas, 20 x 36 in. Courtesy of Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM. James Hart Photography.

When was the last time you truly noticed the light of the setting sun? Join New Mexico artist Debbie Long for a unique guided sunset experience. Through the lens of Willa, you’ll watch the subtle cadence of light and shadow shift as day fades to night. Long transformed Willa, a 1970’s recreation vehicle, into a light chamber fashioned with individual glass castings. This event is designed to connect viewers with the rhythms of the natural world. Limited to 3 guests.

Please note that Willa is located outdoors and subject to changes in weather. Additionally, visitors must be able to use stairs to view Willa. The interior space is small, so all bags and other personal belongings must be left in the secured lockers inside the museum. It is the artist’s intention that this be an unmediated experience without the disruption of cameras or cellphones. Everyone must remove their shoes and remain seated for the duration of the viewing. Proof of vaccination and/or a negative COVID-19 test is required for this program in accordance with the Harwood’s COVID-safe policies.

Image credit: Debbie Long in her Studio, Photo by Anne Staveley

Join the founders of Adventure Painting, a plein air artist residency, to follow in the footsteps of the great landscape painters showcased in New Beginnings: An American Story of Romantics and Modernists in the West. Students will paint at a location based on a selected work from the exhibition. This four-hour workshop includes a discussion of the work that inspired the location, an overview of techniques and painting strategy, and individualized instruction based on your goals as a plein air painter. An optional boxed lunch at the Harwood following the program is available as an add on.

This is a class for beginner/intermediate painters with some technical knowledge. Materials are not provided. A list of recommended materials will be sent to all registered participants. Program will begin and end at the Harwood. A few field easels are available to rent upon request. Limited to 12 students. Ages 16+

The Harwood is committed to providing equitable access to programming. Contact programs@harwoodmuseum.org for information about available scholarships.

Featured Work of Art: Nils Hogner, Sunday at Ranchos de Taos, c. 1940. Image courtesy Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM. James Hart photography. 

Join Aldo and Estella Leopold Writer in Residence, Kim Ruffin, for talk examining the ecological perspectives of enslaved African Americans through their oral and written narratives. Located in the Carson National Forest, “Mi Casita” is an inspiring retreat for distinguished and emerging writers, thinkers, and artists to reflect and write about the relevance of Aldo Leopold’s ideas to 21^st century cultural and environmental issues. This year, the Leopold Writing Program celebrates the 10^th anniversary of this influential residency.

Kimberly Ruffin is an educator (Associate Professor of English, Roosevelt University), trained nature and forest therapy guide, and Outdoor Afro volunteer leader.  She believes that 21st century Earthlings need the dynamic combination of ecological ethics and experiences that are the legacy of Aldo and Estella Leopold.  She’s drawn to Leopold’s work because of its compelling, artful message; it underscores humans’ maladaptive relationship with the land by drawing attention to enslavement and concepts of property. Dr. Ruffin is a birder, hydroponic gardener, and bicyclist who relishes the nature-focused communities which include her students, event participants, and family and friends.

Dr. Ruffin’s writing and research are supported by the Kalliopeia Foundation.  Her residency project extends her work in Black on Earth: African-American Ecoliterary Traditions (Univ. of Georgia Press) by focusing on the twin topics of ecology and enslavement. She is examining written and oral narratives authored by the enslaved including one authored by her own family’s ancestor. Their perspectives stand at the nexus of social and natural ecology and can bring people closer to one another, non-human nature, and regenerative ecological outlooks.  As with Leopold, America’s enslaved ancestors offer guideposts to anyone who desires both a more intimate relationship with the natural world and input on how to better care for our life support system.

Website: cardinalencounters.com

Greg Abate has recorded fifteen albums as leader, notably with Richie Cole, Phil Woods and Kenny Barron. His most recent recording, Magic Dance, The Music of Kenny Barron, spent seven straight weeks at No.1 on the JazzWeek radio charts.

A favorite of Taos audiences, Greg will be joined onstage by his favorite New Mexico rhythm section: Pianist John Rangel, bassist Terry Burns and drummer Pete Amahl.

“Greg Abate is one of the most appealing saxophonists on the scene today. He is mature with an abundance of gentle self-confidence. The result is that he plays music with sweetness and daring.”  –Jim Merod, New Jazz Recordings

When was the last time you truly noticed the light of the setting sun? Join New Mexico artist Debbie Long for a unique guided sunset experience. Through the lens of Willa, you’ll watch the subtle cadence of light and shadow shift as day fades to night. Long transformed Willa, a 1970’s recreation vehicle, into a light chamber fashioned with individual glass castings. This event promises to connect viewers with the rhythms of the natural world. Limited to 3 guests.

Please note that Willa is located outdoors and subject to changes in weather. Additionally, visitors must be able to use stairs to view Willa. The interior space is small, so all bags and other personal belongings must be left in the secured lockers inside the museum. It is the artist’s intention that this be an unmediated experience without the disruption of cameras or cellphones. Everyone must remove their shoes and remain seated for the duration of the viewing. Proof of vaccination and/or a negative COVID-19 test is required for this program in accordance with the Harwood’s COVID-safe policies.

Image credit: Debbie Long in her Studio, Photo by Anne Staveley

Join the founders of Adventure Painting, a plein air artist residency, to follow in the footsteps of the great landscape painters showcased in New Beginnings: An American Story of Romantics and Modernists in the West. Students will paint at a location based on a selected work from the exhibition. This four-hour workshop includes a discussion of the work that inspired the location, an overview of techniques and painting strategy, and individualized instruction based on your goals as a plein air painter. An optional boxed lunch at the Harwood following the program is available as an add on.

This is a class for beginner/intermediate painters with some technical knowledge. Materials are not provided. A list of recommended materials will be sent to all registered participants. Program will begin and end at the Harwood. A few field easels are available to rent upon request. Limited to 12 students. Ages 16+

The Harwood is committed to providing equitable access to programming. Contact programs@harwoodmuseum.org for information about available scholarships.

Featured Work of Art: Emil Bisttram, Storm Over Taos (Stormy Mountain Scene), c. 1931. Image courtesy Tia Collection, Santa Fe, NM. James Hart photography. 

When was the last time you truly noticed the light of the setting sun? Join New Mexico artist Debbie Long for a unique guided sunset experience. Through the lens of Willa, you’ll watch the subtle cadence of light and shadow shift as day fades to night. Long transformed Willa, a 1970’s recreation vehicle, into a light chamber fashioned with individual glass castings. This event promises to connect viewers with the rhythms of the natural world. Limited to 3 guests.

Please note that Willa is located outdoors and subject to changes in weather. Additionally, visitors must be able to use stairs to view Willa. The interior space is small, so all bags and other personal belongings must be left in the secured lockers inside the museum. It is the artist’s intention that this be an unmediated experience without the disruption of cameras or cellphones. Everyone must remove their shoes and remain seated for the duration of the viewing. Proof of vaccination and/or a negative COVID-19 test is required for this program in accordance with the Harwood’s COVID-safe policies.

Image credit: Debbie Long in her Studio, Photo byAnne Staveley