March 30 - June 2, 2024
Opening Reception, Saturday, March 30, 4-6pm, free admission
The Millicent Rogers Museum has 66 of the exhibition’s paintings
on display daily from 10am - 5pm
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In the theme of community, we are looking for stories and Brett paintings to include in the exhibition. We are inviting you, members and friends of the Museum, to tell your stories of Dorothy Brett! If you, or your friends and family, have any particular memories of Brett to share please get in touch with our Curator, Claire Motsinger, at claire@millicentrogers.org. Also, please reach out if you own a painting by Brett that you would like to loan for the purposes of the show. We look forward to speaking with you!
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The Millicent Rogers Museum is happy to announce that the textile gallery, Gallery 2, will be undergoing reinstallation at the end of February!
March 17, 2020
UPDATE:
"The Millicent Rogers Board of Directors and staff feel is best to close the Museum at least through March 31, 2020, of course this date is subject to change.
In the meantime, we will be working to bring you enhanced online experiences; please check back with Facebook and our website soon. We will notify you of online posts.
We'll miss seeing you! If you have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. Executivedirector@millicentrogers.org
Thank you, Greta Brunschwyler, Executive Director"
OTHER DETAILS:
"The MRM online store is Open for Business and we are going to post all of our items post online. This will take some time because the store contains so many unique vintage jewelry consignment pieces and each must be photographed and posted separately.
We just spoke with Cavin Gonzales, Maria Martinez's grandson. Maria is arguably the most famous Native American potter who created the elegant black-on-black pottery.) The San Ildefonso Pueblo is closed, so his family will not be able to make a living, as per usual, through pottery sales to visitors. We are honored that Cavin is going to bring the Millicent Rogers pottery that his family has created, so that we can make it available online.
Dear Millicent Rogers Museum Friends,
Thank you for your support of the MRM. The health and safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff is our top priority. As the MRM continues to monitor the coronavirus status, we are taking preemptive precautions to prevent the spread of germs within the museum environment, including having hand sanitizer and disposable gloves available.
Additionally, the MRM is canceling public event gatherings in accordance with the New Mexico State Governor’s request for curtailing gatherings and the CDC’s guidelines for social distancing. The MRM remains open to the public: Tuesday-Sundays 10am-5pm in March. And seven days a week 10am-5pm, beginning April.
In this rapidly evolving situation, we are doing our best to maintain best practices to keep visitors, volunteers, and staff safe. Please do not hesitate to call if you have questions. 575-758-2462.
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What is this place called Taos and Northern New Mexico? Much has been written, painted, sung, sculpted, rhymed, woven, and danced that tries to convey the landscape and atmosphere of the area. How fortunate we all are to be able to experience both the magic of this landscape and the human expressions that it inspires. As I absorb and learn more about the pieces of artistic and utilitarian articulation in the Museum’s wonderful collections, I am awed by the sensibility, talent and vision the people of this area have shown since the beginning of time. Timeless iterations of mountains, sage, and birds; multiple interpretations of where we are, who we are, what we can be. This winter, Taos County artists have submitted art pieces to the “Miniatures” show that will open in a few days. Though some art-making materials and techniques have changed through the centuries, the show’s star is still this place.
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Taos Pueblo by Albert Lujan, 1945
Gift of Brad and Fran Taylor
First, the museum must always reserve an honorary position on the board of trustees for the current governor of the Pueblo. Second, the museum will be closed to the public on September 30th each year in honor of San Geronimo Feast Day, a celebration of the Pueblo's patron saint, so that the museum's staff, volunteers, and visitors can attend the festivities. In addition, the museum has hosted the Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase for the past five years. At this event, select artists are invited to participate in a weekend-long show at the museum during the Pueblo's ceremonial closure for religious observances. The lack of tourism at the Pueblo during the closure affects the artists' main sources of income, and so the museum hosts this event at no cost or booth fee to the invited artists as part of our ongoing partnership and commitment to supporting Taos Pueblo. For the past several years, Taos Mountain Casino has also generously sponsored the event.
Solitude by Debbie Lujan, 2016
featured work from our 2016 Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase
The permanent collection of the Millicent Rogers Museum includes many works by Taos Pueblo artists and several artists are also represented in the museum's store.
Three Horses by Albert Looking Elk Martinez, c. 1945
Gift of Brad and Fran Taylor
Taos Pueblo pottery by Dawn Antelope, Juanita DuBray, Sharon Reyna, R. Espinoza, and Virginia Romero
Navajo Shepherdess by John Suazo, 1985
John Suazo sculptures in the museum store
In 2012, the first year that the museum hosted the Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase, a weekend-long fundraising gala was held at the museum that incorporated many of the artists mentioned above. A short video about the event can be found here. At this event, the late Tony Reyna posed for a live portrait with artist Sherrie McGraw and Ira Lujan presented a glass blowing demonstration in the museum's courtyard.
Tony Reyna posing with his unfinished portrait by Sherrie McGraw
Ira Lujan presenting glass glowing techniques
Tony Reyna (1916-2016) was a revered Taos Pueblo elder, two-term governor of the Pueblo, veteran, survivor of the Bataan death march, and former Millicent Rogers Museum trustee. He was a long-time supporter of the museum and would often attend our annual Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase.
Sherrie McGraw painting a portrait of Tony Reyna at the Millicent Rogers Museum in 2012
Tony Reyna, An American Hero by Sherrie McGraw, 2012
featured auction item for this year's Turquoise Gala
donated by a private collector
The portrait of Tony Reyna that was completed at the museum in 2012 was donated back to the museum by the collector for this year's Turquoise Gala fundraising auction.
Deer Jar by Ira Lujan, 2017
featured live auction item in this year's Turquoise Gala
donated by the artist
Ira Lujan, who participates in our Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase each year, has donated work to our fundraising gala in years past, and is represented in the museum store, recently submitted the sculpted glass piece shown above for this year's event. It will be a featured item in our live auction . Our silent auction will also have works by Debbie Lujan, whose work is shown at the top of this blog post and below, and celebrity designer Patricia Michaels.
Winter Solstice by Debbie Lujan, 2017
featured silent auction item for this year's Turquoise Gala
donated by the artist
Patricia Michaels presenting on her fashion designs at our Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase earlier this year
Another work that will be included in our Turquoise Gala live auction that is significant to the museum's connection to Taos Pueblo is this painting by Albert Lujan. The scene depicts the dance plaza at the Pueblo on the Feast Day for San Geronimo. Lujan, along with Albert Looking Elk Martinez and Juan Mirabal, was part of the "Three Taos Pueblo Painters," three artists who learned how to paint in the western (European) style using oils. The Millicent Rogers Museum's permanent collection houses dozens of works by these talented artists and this painting would make a wonderful addition to museum if anyone should wish to bid on it at our gala (hint! hint!). Last year, we were fortunate enough to have a generous donor purchase a painting discussed in a previous blog post, so one can dream! If you are interested in more information about our gala or any of the works featured in this post, please contact me at caroline@millicentrogers.org or at (575)758-2462, ext. 205.
San Geronimo Feast Day by Albert Lujan, c. 1945
donated to our Turquoise Gala live auction by Ray Trotter of the RB Ravens Gallery
Turtle Dance by Dorothy Brett, Millicent Rogers Museum
A few weeks ago, the Harwood Museum returned pieces they had borrowed from our collection for their traveling Mabel Dodge Luhan and Company exhibit, and the return of these pieces is the inspiration for this blog post.
Colcha Stitch Embroidered Flower Design for Dorothy Benrimo by Rebecca Salsbury James, Millicent Rogers Museum
It has long been understood that the world is very small when it revolves around Taos and there are very few degrees of separation between individuals. In a previous post, I discussed the vigas in Turtle Walk, Millicent Rogers' home in Taos, that were painted by Dorothy Brett and Trinidad Archuleta (note the similarities to the Brett painting pictured above). Brett, an aristocratic lady from British high society, first came to Taos in 1924 with her friends Frieda and D.H. Lawrence, the famed writer. The three friends were invited to stay with Mabel Dodge Luhan, a wealthy American who is renowned, in part, for introducing many artists, writers, and their eccentric companions to Taos. In 1926, Rebecca Salsbury Strand (later James) visited Taos with her photographer husband Paul Strand upon receiving an invitation from Dodge Luhan. Salsbury James returned to Taos in 1929 accompanied by her close friend Georgia O'Keeffe, and the two women proceeded to make many return trips to the area before ultimately settling permanently in 1933 and 1940, respectively.
My Three Fates by Dorothy Brett, Albuquerque Museum
Mabel Dodge Luhan is on the far left, Frieda Lawrence is in the center with D.H. Lawrence in the back leaning against a tree, and Dorthy Brett is on the far right.
Brett was close friends with Rogers and would often correspond with her friend's youngest son, Paul Peralta-Ramos (the founder of the Millicent Rogers Museum). After Rogers' death, Brett continued to write and would encourage Peralta-Ramos to be more courageous, daring, and creative like his mother. She would also take great pleasure in sharing gossip about their various mutual acquaintances in Taos. In one letter, she regaled him with a story about Frieda Lawrence's false teeth, which had gone missing and were later found in the trash.
Millicent Rogers and Dorothy Brett in the plaza during Fiestas de Taos, c. 1952,
Millicent Rogers Museum
Millicent Rogers and Frieda Lawrence at Turtle Walk, c. 1951,
Millicent Rogers Museum
Part of the floor at the Millicent Rogers Museum,
which was once the front entrance to the home of Claude and Elizabeth Anderson.
The Andersons donated their home to the museum in the late 1960s.
Millicent Rogers, Frieda Lawrence, and Dorothy Brett carved their initials into the floor one evening at a party.
The living room in the Anderson home or what is now gallery 10 in the Millicent Rogers Museum.
Pictured in the foreground is a bench that Rogers purchased from Dodge Luhan.
The collection of the Millicent Rogers Museum includes several of Brett's paintings, and most of these works were either owned by Rogers or her son. Peralta-Ramos was instrumental in growing the museum's collection over the years and befriended many artists and collectors in Taos.
Portrait of Millicent Rogers by Dorothy Brett, Millicent Rogers Museum
According to Searching for Beauty: The Life of Millicent Rogers by Cherie Burns, Rogers would frequent the La Fonda hotel in Santa Fe when she needed to recover from bouts of illness. On one of her final visits to the hotel, many of her Taos friends paid visits and she was gifted an embroidered colcha from Salsbury James. Unfortunately, this colcha is not included in the museum's collection. However, you can learn more about Rogers' stays in Suite 500 at the La Fonda hotel in the books referenced above and pictured below.
La Fonda Then and Now, published October 2016
The museum owns two of James' colchas, and the one pictured at the top of this blog post was dedicated to Dorothy Benrimo. Benrimo was also an artist and co-authored a photography book on grave crosses in northern New Mexico with James. The colcha was donated to the museum by Benrimo along with several santos from the artist's personal collection.
San Ignacio de Loyola retablo by José Raphael Aragon, 1820-1865,
gift of Dorothy Benrimo, Millicent Rogers Museum
The Millicent Rogers Museum's collection is capable of telling many intricate and interconnected stories, and I look forward to sharing more of this amazing collection and the history of Taos with you.
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