Events

Experience Raven Chacon’s visual compositions from the For Zitkála-Ša (2018) series through live performance. Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache), will perform a one-of-a-kind, in-gallery concert of the piece created composed for her by Chacon as well as her own work. 

Raven Chacon created For Zitkála-Ša, a series of lithographs of musical arrangements dedicated to contemporary American Indian, First Nations, and Mestiza women working in music performance, composition, and sound art. Chacon envisioned the scores as portraits of the women and how they navigate the twenty-first century. The title of the series refers to the Yankton Dakota composer and musician Zitkála-Šá, who lived from 1876 to 1938.  

About Laura Ortman 

A soloist musician, composer and vibrant collaborator, Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) creates across multiple platforms, including recorded albums, live performances, and filmic and artistic soundtracks. She has collaborated with artists such as Tony Conrad, Jock Soto, Raven Chacon, Nanobah Becker, Okkyung Lee, Martin Bisi, Jeffrey Gibson, Caroline Monnet, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Martha Colburn, New Red Order, and as part of the trio, In Defense of Memory. An inquisitive and exquisite violinist, Ortman is versed in Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, keyboards, and amplified violin, and often sings through a megaphone. She is a producer of capacious field recordings. Ortman has performed at The Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, The Stone residency, The New Museum, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, The Toronto Biennial, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, among countless established and DIY venues in the US, Canada, and Europe. In 2008, She founded the Coast Orchestra, an all-Native American orchestral ensemble that performed a live soundtrack to Edward Curtis’s film In the Land of the Head Hunters (1914), the first silent feature film to star an all-Native American cast.

Ortman is the recipient of the 2023 Institute of American Indian Arts Fellowship, 2022 Forge Project Fellowship, 2022 United States Artists Fellowship, 2022 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists, 2020 Jerome@Camargo Residency in Cassis, France, 2017 Jerome Foundation Composer and Sound Artist Fellowship, 2016 Art Matters Grant, 2016 Native Arts and Culture Foundation Fellowship, 2015 IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Social Engagement Residency, 2014-15 Rauschenberg Residency, and 2010 Artist-in-Residence at Issue Project Room. Ortman was also a participating artist in the 2019 Whitney Biennial. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. 

About the Exhibition 

Raven Chacon: Three Songs brings together three of Raven Chacon’s projects that pay tribute to Indigenous women through sound, video, and visual work. In the series For Zitkála-Šá (2018), Chacon created musical arrangements dedicated to different contemporary Indigenous, First Nations, or Mestiza women working in music performance, composition, or sound art. The video installation Three Songs (2021) features Indigenous women singing as they reoccupy sites of historic massacres, displacement, or relocation of tribal people. The final work, Silent Choir (2016-2017), is a field recording Chacon made while taking part in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, which captures the silent protest of 600 water protectors facing police and security forces. When presented in unison, these works resound the suppressed histories and present-day stories of Native resistance in the face of systemic power. 

Raven Chacon is a Diné (Navajo) composer, performer, and installation artist born in Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation and based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a solo artist, Chacon has exhibited, performed, or had works performed at LACMA, The Kennedy Center, and the Whitney Museum, among others. In 2022, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music. 

For Zitkála-Šá Performances: 

Feb 24: Kona Mirabal + Masa Rain Mirabal 

Apr 6: Autumn Chacon 

May 4: Laura Ortman 

Jun 7: Marisa DeMarco (performing For Carmina Escobar) 

Support for the For Zitkála-Šá Concert Series is provided by the Richard B. Siegel Foundation 

In collaboration with the Harwood Museum and Artstreams: From the Well of Memory, Meet us at the Museum harnesses the power of art and provides access to the museum for individuals with memory impairment and their caregiver. Explore a new work of art each month at the Harwood while engaging in meaningful conversations that build communication skills, stimulate social engagement, and deepen connections through art.  

To register, please contact Kathleen Burg M.A.:  575-770-9874 or ktburg@newmex.com and www.artstreamstaos.com

Artstreams: From the Well of Memory has been in the forefront of creating programs for Taos Alzheimer’s family caregivers since 2008.  Image courtesy of Kathleen Burg. 

Shop for a treasure. Support a Legacy.

Indulge your passion for art and culture while making a meaningful impact. Every winning bid contributes directly to sustaining the Harwood Museum as a cornerstone of art and culture in Taos, NM. It’s not just a transaction; it’s an investment in the future of creativity, education, and community spirit.

Online bidding begins at 9:00 a.m. MDT on Sunday, May 12th and closes at 8:00 p.m. MDT on Saturday, May 18th.

Look for our email announcement about when bidding starts. Not registered to get our announcements? Sign Up Today >

Learn More >

Be the first to bid and buy at the Pre-Auction Preview:

Friday, May 10th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Saturday, May 11th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

During the auction, art pieces are available to view by appointment:

Wednesday, May 15th, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Thursday, May 16th, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Friday May 17th, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Saturday, May 18th, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
Email harwoodauction2024@gmail.com

Art pick up:

Sunday, May 19th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm
Monday, May 20th, 1:00 to 4:00 pm

Come out for an afternoon of music from the Mediterranean, Near East & Balkans with !Radio Free Bassanda! This group’s energetic and complex rhythms will challenge the ear and the feet. Their wide range of repertoire and instrumentation from Eastern and Western traditions provides the musicians with a broad timbral palette to weave their sound pictures.  

¡Radio Free Bassanda! was founded out of a shared interest in the various modal music from around the Mediterranean, the Middle & Near East, and the Balkans. Modal music emphasizes melody and rhythm over harmony, and relies heavily on a great deal of improvisation and spontaneous invention. 

The Harwood’s current exhibition, Raven Chacon: Three Songs, amplifies stories of Indigenous resistance and pays tribute to Indigenous women through sound, video, and visual work. Join us for a dynamic conversation featuring local Indigenous women working at the intersection of activism and the arts. Moderated by Christina Castro, PhD, the panel will share stories from their recent projects and engage in a dialogue about the power of art to disrupt inequitable systems and imagine a future grounded in Indigenous liberation.

This event is free. Donations welcome.

Panelists

Autumn D. Gomez

Emileah Lujan

Midnite Lujan

Christina Castro, PhD

About the Moderator

Dr. Christina M. Castro (Taos Pueblo/Jemez Pueblo/Xicana) is a mother, writer, scholar, educator, community organizer, multidimensional artist, public speaker and aspiring farmer. She currently resides in O’ga P’ogeh, Santa Fe, NM within her traditional homelands. In 2017, Dr. Castro co-founded Three Sisters Collective (3SC), a Pueblo-women centered grassroots organization devoted to art, advocacy, education and community building. She received her Doctorate from the Pueblo PhD Program at Arizona State University’s School of Social Transformation and Justice Studies in 2018 and is an independent consultant with Castro Consulting, LLC.  

About the Panelists

Midnight S. Lujan (Taos Pueblo/Swedish) is a woman, born and raised in Taos, New Mexico. Lujan is an emerging talent committed to lifelong sobriety and is a full-time student at The Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) pursuing a BFA in Creative Writing. Lujan is committed to embodying the creative processes and disciplines of decolonization through behavioral health and wellness, grass-roots organizing, literature, advocacy, creative direction and production. christinamcastro.com

Autumn Dawn Gomez (Taos Pueblo/Comanche) is a multidisciplinary artist, specializing in community and public murals, graphic design, printing, and workshops. Born and raised in O’ga P’Ogeh Owingeh (Santa Fe), Autumn is also a co-founder of Three Sisters Collective, a community based grassroots organization creating space for Indigenous women, femmes and their families in so-called Santa Fe. Autumn is often found organizing with community, creating, learning about birthwork and herbalism, and spending time with her family and cat. Autumn is an On Being Social Healing Fellow for 2023-24. You can find more of their work at pimikwusii.com 

Emileah Lujan was born and raised traditionally in Taos Pueblo, “Home of the Red Willow People.” Inspired by the movement at Standing Rock in 2016, Emileah discovered her voice as an Indigenous youth. Her journey reflects personal transformation and resilience. As a recovering addict, she has found purpose in the recovery field, grassroots organizations, advocacy, and creative arts. Emileah is a third generation hoop dancer and fancy shawl dancer, currently blending traditional dance with resistance performance arts to promote cultural preservation and social change.  

Join a Harwood Teaching Artist for an in-depth look at a work of art in the museum followed by a 45-minute art making activity in the Education Studio. This program is open to families or small groups with children and home school groups. Designed for ages 5-12 but all are welcome.

Advanced registration recommended. $5 suggested donation per child. 

Please email education@harwoodmuseum.org for more information. Image courtesy of Harwood Museum of Art.

Laura Metcalf returns to TCMG with The Overlook, an Uptown NYC string quartet amplifying the music of Black composers with a community building mission “to create a more representative and relevant musical practice.”

Formed during the pandemic and born out of the need to share music at this time and make it accessible, The Overlook presented virtual performances with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, live performances at Lincoln Center and events in nontraditional spaces (click here to view a lovely clip).

Join us for the final program of our 31st season to meet The Overlook: Monica Davis & Ravenna Lipchik, (violins), Angela Pickett, (viola) and Laura Metcalf, (cello).

Doors at 5:10pm.

All ticket sales for Taos Chamber Music Group Performances are Final Sale.

ABOUT TCMG

There is something different about making music in New Mexico – its endless vistas and open landscapes infuse creativity with a sense of spaciousness and possibility. For the past thirty years the Taos Chamber Music Group has tapped into the Land of Enchantment by presenting the imaginative and inspirational performances for which it has become known. Programs often reflect the beauty of our surroundings as well as the unique cultural diversity of the Taos area, earning TCMG a reputation as one of Northern New Mexico’s most innovative and successful music series.

Laura Metcalf returns to TCMG with The Overlook, an Uptown NYC string quartet amplifying the music of Black composers with a community building mission “to create a more representative and relevant musical practice.”

Formed during the pandemic and born out of the need to share music at this time and make it accessible, The Overlook presented virtual performances with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, live performances at Lincoln Center and events in nontraditional spaces (click here to view a lovely clip).

Join us for the final program of our 31st season to meet The Overlook: Monica Davis & Ravenna Lipchik, (violins), Angela Pickett, (viola) and Laura Metcalf, (cello).

Doors at 5:10pm.

All ticket sales for Taos Chamber Music Group Performances are Final Sale.

ABOUT TCMG

There is something different about making music in New Mexico – its endless vistas and open landscapes infuse creativity with a sense of spaciousness and possibility. For the past thirty years the Taos Chamber Music Group has tapped into the Land of Enchantment by presenting the imaginative and inspirational performances for which it has become known. Programs often reflect the beauty of our surroundings as well as the unique cultural diversity of the Taos area, earning TCMG a reputation as one of Northern New Mexico’s most innovative and successful music series.

Join a Harwood Teaching Artist for an in-depth look at a work of art in the museum followed by a 45-minute art making activity in the Education Studio. This program is open to families or small groups with children and home school groups. Designed for ages 5-12 but all are welcome.

Advanced registration recommended. $5 suggested donation per child. 

Please email education@harwoodmuseum.org for more information. Image courtesy of Harwood Museum of Art.