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In a Town Steeped in History, It's Hard to Stop Anywhere That Doesn't Have A

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In a Town Steeped in History, It's Hard to Stop Anywhere That Doesn't Have A THE FIRST WAVE OF PAINTERS D.H. Lawrence, Ansel Adams and Andrew Dasburg, all of In the late 1800s the landscape of the Southwest whom came to stay at her home in Taos. was a blank canvas that attracted a new generation of Today the Mabel Dodge Luhan house is still open American painters. American artists Joseph Sharp, Bert to visitors who want to immerse themselves in the Phillips and Ernest Blumenschein met studying painting history of the woman who helped craft the early arts in Paris, but each found his way to the small high-desert scene in Taos. Guests can stay in Luhan’s room or one of town of Taos, New Mexico. They were inspired to apply the rooms that housed luminaries such as Ansel Adams, Taos their European training to rendering the landscape Georgia O’Keeffe, Nicholai Fechin and D.H. Lawrence, & THE ENCHANTED CIRCLE of the Southwest in all of its exquisite color and to among others. The Mabel Dodge Luhan Inn and depicting the Native peoples who lived there. Conference Center also hosts workshops and retreats Sharp fi rst discovered Taos while on a sketching year round. They include ones on creativity, writing, trip on 1883. A few years later Phillips and Blumenschein photography, painting and yoga. were passing through the town their friend had told While many artists came and went from Luhan’s them so much about, and by sheer happenstance their home, Andrew Dasburg was a regular visitor, spending wagon broke down. While waiting part of every year in either Taos or for it to be fi xed, the two became Santa Fe. A native of France, Dasburg enchanted by the area’s rustic beauty became a pivotal fi gure in shaping and ended up staying for several In a town the Taos modern art movement of months. By 1915 all three artists had the 1940s. The vivid colors of the relocated to Taos, and along with steeped in high-desert landscape and the Native Oscar Berninghaus, Eanger Irving history, it’s hard culture infl uenced the work of the Couse and William Herbert Dunton, Taos Moderns, just as it had the Taos founded the Taos Society of Artists. to stop anywhere Society of Artists. However, their The members of the collective that doesn’t have abstract compositions refl ected this did not have one homogeneous inspiration in a much different fashion artistic style, although they were all a story. than the earlier artistic movement fascinated by Taos Pueblo and its in Taos. Today Dasburg’s works are peoples, and by the breathtaking featured in some of the world’s most beauty of the high desert, which features heavily in their famous art galleries, but gems are also tucked away work. To be a member of the society, one had to commit in local Taos establishments, such as the Harwood to exhibiting work on a regular basis. The Taos Society Museum of Art. of Artists showed their paintings widely, especially In the early 1900s Taos was the birthplace of a new in New York City, where they continued to pique the American arts movement, one inspired by a people and interest of other artists and society women, including a culture that had existed for hundreds of years. Taos Mabel Dodge Luhan. Luhan was a wealthy patroness Pueblo is one of the Southwest’s oldest continuously of the arts who left the East Coast for “a new world” in inhabited pueblos. Over the centuries, it has produced Taos. Once settled in her new home, she hosted famous generations of artists, some of whom have helped artists and writers. Among them were Georgia O’Keeffe, shape our understanding of the region‘s early history, by Flynn Murray and some of whom are alive today. Much of the work Art, culture and history merge in The Blake at Taos Ski Valley, of the Taos Society of Artists focused on depicting the an alpine lodge only steps away from mountainside adventures. life and culture of the residents of Taos Pueblo. During 258 259 the same time the Taos Society of Artists was active, Dodge Luhan and ended up marrying Juan Mirabal, one three men from Taos Pueblo were also making names of the three Native Taos Pueblo painters. Mirabal is the for themselves by depicting the daily life of the pueblo. subject of many of the paintings Eaton made before Albert Looking Elk Martinez, Albert Lujan and leaving Taos to assist Diego Rivera in New York and later Juan Mirabal were known as the “Three Taos Pueblo in Mexico. The show centers on paintings she made in Painters.” Although once Martinez served as a model for Taos and Mexico, during the two most formative periods Berninghaus and later took a few painting lessons from in her career. him, Martinez developed his artwork independent of the For anyone who wants to learn more about members of the Taos Society of Artists. What is most Southwest American Indian and Hispanic art, the distinctive about this trio of artists is that in contrast to Millicent Rogers Museum is the place to go. Visitors can interpretations of their Native culture by artists from the learn about micaceous pottery and other mediums, such outside, they depicted pueblo life as members of the as painting and weaving, as well as view works by local Taos Pueblo. Taos artists. Those who specifically want to see works Taos’ rich cultural history, paired with the unrivaled by the Three Taos Pueblo Painters should check out the natural beauty of the high desert, helped transform Taos Harwood Museum of Art’s permanent collection. from a small town into a world-class art destination. Once visitors have taken in Taos’ rich art history, Members of the Taos Society of Artists were the first they can peruse the work of contemporary artists at painters to relocate in the area, but they certainly weren’t galleries such as Sage Fine Art, Parsons Gallery of the the last. The society lasted formally for only twelve years, West and Mission Gallery. One such artist is Taos Pueblo yet its members’ art turned Taos into a focal point for the Native Ira Lujan, who tells the stories of traditional arts from the early-20th century onward. American Indian symbols through sculpted hot glass. Lujan likens working at the glass furnace to sitting around EXPLORING TAOS TODAY the community fire. Fire plays an important role in In Taos you can immerse yourself in more than a thousand pueblo ceremonies inside the kivas, and during outdoor years of history. Visitors can stop to sample local beers ceremonies, the fire is never allowed to go out, day or at Taos Mesa Brewing and try some regional cuisine at night. Similarly, in glassblowing, the furnace is always lit. Orlando's New Mexican Café. Local museums feature a Fire is a natural element and, for Lujan, it plays a central plethora of contemporary and ancient American Indian unifying role between his culture and his art. Lujan’s artwork, paintings by the original Taos Society of Artists, artwork can be found in the Millicent Rogers Museum works by the Taos Modern artists, Hispanic works and and is often featured in local gallery exhibitions. modern pieces by the current generation of Taos artists. A trip to Taos wouldn’t be complete without a visit Visitors who want to learn more about the Taos to Taos Pueblo, which even today remains a cultural Society of Artists can explore some of the museums focal point. More than a thousand years old, it has a that feature their artwork: the Taos Art Museum, long history as a center of trade among American Indian the Harwood Museum of Art and the Blumenschein Nations, of which there are twenty-three remaining Museum, which is housed in that founding member’s in New Mexico. Taos Pueblo is where the Spaniards home. Guests who visit the Taos Art Museum between came looking for the fabled cities of gold. Remnants March 2019 and March 2020 have the opportunity to see of the Spanish church destroyed during the Pueblo an exhibition of works of Marjorie Eaton. Eaton was part Revolt battles in 1680 are still visible today. In 1992 the of the wave of artists who were inspired to come to Taos United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural in the late 1920s. While there, she befriended Mabel Organization (UNESCO) designated the pueblo a World 260 261 anywhere that doesn’t have a story. Visitors from around the world come to Taos to experience the region’s art and history, but they also come to bask in one of the Southwest’s most beautiful landscapes. MESA’S EDGE TRAVELING THE ENCHANTED CIRCLE Taos marks the beginning and end of the Enchanted Circle, an 83-mile loop of scenic roadway that weaves around Wheeler Peak. Located in the Carson National Forest, Wheeler Peak is New Mexico’s tallest mountain, with a summit that reaches 13,159 feet. In warmer months, visitors travel to Wheeler to camp and to hike the Bull of the Woods Trail and the Williams Lake Trail. In colder months, visitors can enjoy some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the United States at any of the four ski resorts on the loop. Nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Taos Ski Valley (TSV) features more than 100 pristine trails that accommodate skiers and riders of all levels. In the spring and summer, visitors can enjoy mountain biking, Heritage Site. It contains the ancient ruins of the tribes hiking and horseback riding. In the winter, Taos Ski Valley that first settled in the Taos valley, with original structures provides some of the country’s most challenging ski runs.
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