100 Years of Collecting, 100 Years of Connecting

What does it mean to collect the only signed retablo by José Rafael Aragón? In most museums, such a label signals rarity and authentication. But at Santa Fe's Nuevo Mexicano Heritage Arts Museum, it hints at something more subversive: reverence for the anonymous. Most makers in this tradition didn’t sign their work. Their names dissolved into community memory like indigo into water.

Luis Tapia (Santa Fe, New Mexico), The Folk Art Collectors, 1992. Wood, paint. Gift of Lynne Steuer in honor of Jan and Chuck Rosenak.

Open now, 100 Years of Collecting | 100 Years of Connecting is both a celebration and an act of resistance. For a century, the Society has preserved objects showcasing the radical idea that ordinary people making extraordinary things with their hands deserve recognition. In an art world obsessed with individual genius, this collection honours collective creativity...

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Image Credits:

Lead Image: Textiles on display at 100 Years of Collecting | 100 Years of Connecting. Photo Credit: Tira Howard Photography

All other images as credited in captions.