According to their mission statement, New Mexico Women in the Arts (NMWA) was founded by Edwina Milner in l997 to “enhance the mission of the National Museum of Women in the Arts by bringing recognition to the achievements of living women artists of New Mexico through statewide and national art shows, educational programs, lectures, and special events.” This year’s “Originals 2007” is their fifth biennial juried art exhibition. It is also the committee’s biggest effort, measured not only in dollars but also in terms of the hours of intensive work.
500 artists from across the state responded to the call for entries, and ninety-eight women were selected by the jury. “Originals 2007” will open at both the Harwood and the Millicent Rogers Museums on September 28th and run through December 30th. As a major cultural event, “Originals 2007” will benefit the community financially. Lucile Grieder, co-chair of the New Mexico Women in the Arts, worked tirelessly to obtain funding from the Town of Taos and the New Mexico Department of Tourism. The town became a major sponsor by awarding ten thousand dollars to NMWA to be used for marketing. The New Mexico Department of Tourism gave three thousand dollars but require a six thousand dollar match. Ann Quinn has been a key fundraiser, raising several thousand dollars from private donors. Other notable women—Kay Decker, Jenny Dyman, and Nancy Glasgow—have contributed much to these endeavors. All are from Taos.
At two private, by-invitation-only award receptions, to be held Friday, September 28th, four of the 98 juried artists will receive awards of a thousand dollars each. As well, each museum will receive a thousand dollars for a purchase award.
This Year’s Honored Artists
This year, the committee has invited five additional artists to honor them for the national recognition they have earned for outstanding contributions to art. These women have opened our eyes, stimulated our inspirations, and broadened our viewpoints. They express the feminine spirit of endurance, mystique, and viewpoint while serving as educators and endeavoring to create visual works, write books, teach workshops, and pass on traditions and practices to future generations.
The five honorees are:
Judy Chicago is primarily known as a feminist artist, but she has written and published ten books since some her most famous visual works were produced. I met her years ago when I worked for Art Lines magazine, where she was interviewed about the artistic process she encountered with the women who helped her create The Birth Project (l980-l985). The Dinner Party, which premiered in San Francisco in l979 and toured the country and Europe, is perhaps her most well-known piece. Despite, or because of, its controversial nature, reviews and commentary have placed it in the context of art history.
In 2003, she was honored with a retrospective of her career at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Her philosophy has had a worldwide impact on the art community and women’s issues. She resides in Belen and will visit during the show.
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Angelina Delgado Martinez was the recipient of the Governor’s Award for the Arts in l984. She began learning the art of tinsmith from her grandfather at age l2 and at age 87, continues to teach this traditional art form to the next generation. She received the l991 Lifetime Master Achievement Award from the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. She shows in museums across the country and created the splendorous five chandeliers at the Pecos National Monument 23 years ago. She sometimes combines traditional colcha embroidery with her tinwork. Her work resonates with traditional domestic and religious themes. Angelina lives in Santa Fe.
Ramona Sakiestewa is an influential Native American artist, well known in the art world for her exquisite tapestries. Born of Hopi ancestry, raised in New Mexico, she taught herself to weave by evolving and adapting techniques derived from pre-historic Pueblo traditions. Her works appear in the collections of dozens of museums, including the Smithsonian Institution. She has written and lectured extensively about weaving, has received numerous awards from the Santa Fe Indian Market, and has been inducted into the New Mexico Women’s Hall of Fame. She serves as chair of the New Mexico Arts Commission. Her list of accomplishments goes on…and on. She also paints and draws, makes monotypes and prints. She lives in Santa Fe.
Linda Lomahaftewa is a Hopi-Choctaw master painter and printmaker. She is also an art educator at IAIA (Institute of American Indian Art) in Santa Fe. Trained in abstract art at San Francisco Art Institute, she maintains the memories of kiva murals and ceremonies along with her love of color from the beautiful skies of New Mexico and Arizona in her art. Geometric patterns enhance a feeling of the sacred in layers that are pleasing and mysterious. Her art is devotional. She counsels her students to “never give up making art” and to “believe in yourself.”
Mildred Tolbert is our own artist from Taos. She is 88 years old. Dory Hulbert interviewed her recently in Horse Fly, when she had her exhibition of photographs at the Harwood. Mildred was born in Pampa, Texas. At age twelve she was given a Brownie box camera. Lashing it to the saddle horn of the horse, she rode across the range and photographed the world in which she lived. Later, she studied at Texas State College for Women and took journalism courses at Texas Tech. Though timid and lacking confidence, she knew she was not going to be the wife of a rancher. At l9, she set out to explore the world, eventually finding her way to Taos where she worked in a photographic studio and later became the wife of poet Judson Crews. Traveling through the larger cities of America, she soaked up modernism. In l947, she returned to Taos and set up her own freelance photography business. Her work was enhanced by a lifelong respect for and curiosity about her subjects, most of whom she became friends with. The majority of her subjects represented a slice of Taos artistic history, like Agnes Martin. She produced an informed and intimate style of photographic portraiture. The show honors Mildred and considers her a true “Original.”
To learn more about the national organization and the state chapter, see www.newmexicowomeninthearts.org. Please join us in honoring, supporting and participating in the feminine viewpoint of artistic endeavors.
Debra Villalobos has lived in Taos for 24 years. Aside from writing for Horse Fly, she is also a visual artist and teaches creativity workshops to adults and children. She has provided physical training and movement classes to Taos throughout her time here. |