ART THROUGH THE AGES IN THE SANTA FE AREA

"The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique."  
Isaac Bashevis Singer

Carol writes:  Even though much of the U.S. is well-immersed in spring by late April, such is not the case in the Rockies.  Old Man Winter tends to linger in the Rockies, so it wasn’t hard to pick which direction to head out of Colorado Springs—and that would be south toward warmer and sunnier days.  We decided to park ourselves for a week in the lovely art colony atmosphere of Santa Fe. 

Southwestern-style architecture has always been a favorite of ours, and Santa Fe has southwestern charm galore.

Santa Fe Plaza is quintessential Spanish-American Colonial.  As they have for centuries, Native American jewelry artisans are still selling their jewelry along the ancient walls of the Plaza.

Among Santa Fe’s major attractions are the historic Palace of the Governors, the nearby Chapel of Loretto with its magical suspended staircase,

 

and the always popular year-round Saturday Farmers Market.

On a spectacular sunny day, we made a side trip to Bandelier National Monument, which is known for its wonderful archeological sites of the dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo People.

The 140-ft vertical climb up 4 ladders to the Alcove House sure gave the quads a workout,

but it was worth it for the special experience at the top.

                                                          

                                                  

From an historic point of view, the hike along the stream bed was fascinating…climbing up ladders to ancient housing,

gradually understanding the logic of location, and appreciating how the dwellings were constructed with post holes carved into the rock face to support the wooden beams.

Without a doubt Santa Fe has one of the most beautiful, unique and appropriately designed state capitol buildings of any we have ever visited.  Locals affectionately call their state capitol the “Roundhouse,”

and they are extremely proud of its New Mexico-themed art collection.  The fabric art quilt pieces made me realize I am only a rookie when it comes to quilt design and custom quilting.

How do they create incredibly detailed human hands or forest scenes…out of  cloth?

We took a quick peek inside nearby San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the continental United States.

One of Santa Fe’s claim to fame is its world-class art scene, best appreciated with a stroll into the dozens of art galleries along Canyon Road.  The galleries are situated in the old southwestern-style houses—fantastic venues for displaying art!

To close out our stay in Santa Fe, we took a day trip 50 miles south to Albuquerque to soak in some of the area’s oldest “art” that was created centuries ago on the basalt rock faces at Petroglyph National Monument.

Time to head on down to Clovis to spend some precious time with our daughter.  As we rolled out of Santa Fe, we felt our visit had met all of our expectations on what life is like on the road full time.  I had made an instant friendship with a fellow blogger in the campground and look forward to following her RV blog stories, perhaps crossing paths once again somewhere on the road.  We have decided that we will definitely come back to Santa Fe--when our route takes us west once again-- because it really was such a neat place to hang out.

"Art is the signature of civilizations."  Jean Sebelius