Covid Updates from the MRM

Many of the Millicent Rogers staff are back working from the Museum. We’re wearing masks and having Zoom meetings. Under State orders, we’ve been allowed to reopen our store, but the Museum itself must be closed to public visitors. This creates a void for all of us. To partially fill it, we have started to engage in more technology to help you engage in our mission, “to share and celebrate the arts and cultures of the Southwest.” The Museum staff have really ramped up our use of YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

But these electronic communications are not the same as when you are in the Museum - finding something that piques your interest or sparks a memory, driving you to ask a question. Then, we get to have a dialogue that, hopefully, gives you a greater insight or inspires you to learn even more. When this happens, we at MRM also learn and grow as human beings. The unique life experience that each of you brings to the Museum shapes how you interpret and understand each object. The rich dialogues that flow from your experiences create meaning and value. Karen, our director of education tells the story of taking a class of young children through the Museum. One child got especially excited when seeing the retablos, “We have those at home!” He was so very happy that he had a connection – that things he sees everyday are treasured enough by our society to be showcased.

Just like that young man, we love hearing how each of you relates to objects in the Museum. Did your grandmother make those - or did you have a collection of those on a bookshelf when you were growing up? Do you marvel at the rich red of the dye on woolen rugs that are centuries old? Does your impression of the wealthy, glamorous Millicent Rogers change when you see the letter she wrote to her son when she was nearing and grappling with death? How about the fanciful, imaginative drawings she created from her sickbed?
So, even though we fully understand and support the reasons for our distance, we miss you dearly and can’t wait to see you again. In the meantime, we will try to find ways to engage with you electronically, knowing fully well that it is not nearly enough.

As a Museum, we continue to look forward, and we are now working on developing our programming for the next 3-5 years. If you have ideas for exhibits or programs, we’d love to hear about them! Please share those ideas by emailing me executivedirector@millicentrogers.org

Thank you so much and take care,
Greta