Southwest 1/2 (Road Trip Pt. 2)
The next stop I went after Dallas was Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I absolutely fell in love with this city! I didn’t really have the city on my radar when I was initially was making my plans, but when I was talking with my mom she said I absolutely had to go and stay with her friends Nancy and Hugh.
And she was so right. It was honestly one my absolute favorite trips ever!
Nancy, Hugh and I were so in sync. They were the best hosts I could’ve ever imagined. They are big art appreciators and collectors- and my trip just happened to align with the Santa Fe Indian Market.
While Santa Fe’s art scene is extremely active anyway (they have around 250 galleries in town) this festival is one of the biggest events of the year for the city! One hundred thousand people come to town for the weekend for to see the work of over a thousand Native American artists from all around the country. The artwork, music, dancing, jewelry was so incredible. I was amazed.
My trip just happened to align with this festival which honestly feels like such divine timing.
Hugh and Nancy were such local experts and guides for this for me. Also Nancy let me wear some beautiful pieces of jewelry she’s gotten at past festivals. It was so fun.
I can’t tell you how inspiring and incredible this festival was. And just the city in general!
The mountains in the landscape, the orange dirt, it just felt so new and different for someone used to a Florida landscape. I was only supposed to stay one-two nights in Santa Fe and I think I extended to four nights.
I had never seen architecture like that city- it felt carved into the land and that it really worked with nature. Because most of the homes are the same color as the terrain- it really feels like less of a city and more of a coexisting relationship with nature. Some of the houses look small on the outside- but then they continue to grow downward with the curve of the mountain. It was so fun and cool to see.
The Loretto Chapel was also something I saw here and that I had recently learned about by chance. While John and I were in Pittsburgh for a glass class I was taking, the hotel TV landed on a docuseries about this staircase. After learning about it, I was amazed by the story. I forgot it the some months later until I was right in front of it here. It was so cool to see inside!! Theres so much mystery surrounded it- if you haven't heard about the story of this chapel- look it up because it’s quite a story.
Also, I normally always travel with a St. Christopher charm inside my car. My catholic gramma has always said it keeps us safe and that we have to drive with one. I realized I didn’t have one and that I probably should for such a long journey alone- so I got one! It felt a little extra holy coming from here.
And it did it’s trick and got me a safely through my drive. ❤️
My watermelon chili margarita- delicious!
Not only did I love the city for its architecture and art, but the food was incredible too. I fell in love with chillies and now continue to cook with them for the extra boost of vitamin c and the fun spice & kick they add.
Hugh and Nancy knew a local glass studio, Tesuque Glass, to show me, which was awesome.
It’s always awesome seeing how other people are working with the same material in such different ways. I’ll link their website here! Tesuque Website
I got to meet another glass artist about my age who was working at the studio, his name was Spencer and he had just returned from Pilchuck (where this road trip was taking me) It was so exciting to see how happy and thrilled he was with his experience as I was driving out there. It was a great studio and gallery space. I got to watch them work for a bit and introduced myself!
There was a very nice glass scene and community here which was great to experience.
The studio was also right next to a beautiful sculpture garden. We explored that and I saw a wild jackrabbit for the first time! After we got a delicious lunch- it was really the perfect outing.
Then we went to explore the big arts festival that was going on. We walked around the towns center which was filled with music, dancing, drumming and just a real sense community. It was so amazing. But it was raining for the first time in years for the festival- so it was a little less crowded (still insanely crowded) than it normally was.
I ran into an artist friend of mine, Brenna Kimbro, who was displaying with a gallery here. I met her a previous summer at a group show we had at the Cawdrey Gallery in Whitefish Montana. Here she was showing a 2,000 pound bronze sculpture. She finds sage brush and puts it together with screws and wire to create incredible sculptures.
This bronze sculpture was so incredibly impressive- because if you know a little about the casting bronze- every little piece (I think there was over 300 pieces) was individually poured into a mold of the original sage brush and then put it back together like a puzzle. And she said they drove it in a trailer from Oregon so it was extra incredible. And also very fun to see her when I wasn’t expecting to!
I got to see Preston Singletary and Dan Friday- two very incredible artists (just by luck of seeing it in the local newspaper!) at the Blue Rain Gallery. I can’t tell you how surreal it is to see someone whose art I have learned about during my formal education in glass and then see them create art. Watching them work together was magic! Before, I had only seen photos of the work that they were making and displaying right there. It was amazing to not only see them create art but also watching how they display their work, how they interact with it and with collectors, gallery owners and viewers. It was inspiring and just such a vision of where I want to see myself someday.
After the first day of demos, Preston and Dan said they were going to be doing them again the next day. So I went back, early for a great seat, and watched again the next day. We also got to see the pieces they made the day before all cooled- which allows for the full effect of the color to shine through. It was so nice to meet these artists here because I ran into both of them again during my time at Pilchuck!
Small small glass world. They remembered me which was so cool.
Also- the first thing I did when I got back to D.C. was go and see Preston Singletary’s show at the Smithsonian’s Native American Museum. The show was called Raven and the Box of Daylight- it was amazing. After the Smithsonian, his work traveled to the Chrysler Museum (the place I had just finished my apprenticeship before the journey) and he went there to demo and speak about his work. How full circle is that!
After watching them demo for some time I explored the farmers market and the city a bit by myself!
Also- look at these beautiful flowers I got for Hugh and Nancy at the farmers market.
They were so soft and fluffy.
Next time I visit Santa Fe I definitely will add Georgia O’Keefe’s house and museum to my list and the Meow Wolf Museum. I could’ve stayed here for a while because there was so many fun things to do. But sadly with my timeline needed me to get back on the road!
After Santa Fe, I originally planned on doing 3 days at the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it- and not to spoil the story- but I still haven’t seen it!
Hugh and Nancy were well versed in the nearby attractions and canyons to see and told me to go check out Canyon de Chelly. That was an amazing place I’ll cover next week as well as Moab (Arches National Park) and then Park City to wrap up my time in the Southwest!
Thanks for reading!
Grace
