Events

There’s always something exciting happening at the Museum of International Folk Art! Join us for our many programs listed below.

Family Mornings at Folk Art
Family

Family Mornings at Folk Art

January 8, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Join us for our monthly Family Mornings at Folk Art program featuring storytime, art activity, and explorations in the galleries. FREE Family Program!

Themes:

  • January 8th - Dressing with Purpose & Staying Warm | Make a Fleece Poncho
  • February 12th - Lunar New Year & Stories | Make a Puppet Theater
  • March 12th - Circus Fun!

About the Museum of International Folk Art: http://www.internationalfolkart.org/

Founded in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett, the Museum of International Folk Art’s mission is to foster understanding of the traditional arts to illuminate human creativity and shape a humane world. The museum holds the world’s largest international folk art collection of more than 150,000 objects from six continents and over 150 nations, representing a broad range of global artists whose artistic expressions make Santa Fe an international crossroads of culture. For many visitors, fascination with folk art begins upon seeing the whimsical toys and traditional objects within the Girard Collection. For others, the international textiles, ceramics, carvings and other cultural treasures in the Neutrogena Collection provide the allure.  The museum’s historic and contemporary Latino and Hispano folk art collections, spanning the Spanish Colonial period to modern-day New Mexico, reflect how artists respond to their time and place in ways both delightful and sobering. In 2010, the museum opened the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, where exhibitions encourage visitors to exchange ideas on complex issues of human rights and social justice.

 706 Camino Lejo, on Museum Hill in Santa Fe, NM 87505. (505) 476-1200.

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The Visceral Exhibit: Alaska Native Gut Knowledge and Perseverance
Lectures and Talks

The Visceral Exhibit: Alaska Native Gut Knowledge and Perseverance

January 11, 2023
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Join us for a virtual talk with Dr. Ellen Carrlee, conservator at the Alaska State Museum, and Sonya Kelliher-Combs, mixed-media visual artist. Carrlee and Kelliher-Combs will discuss a trilogy of interrelated exhibitions held at the Alaska State Museum in 2023, all related to the material, historical, and cultural aspects of sea-mammal gut in Indigenous Alaska.

Register in advance at:

https://nmculture-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMucO-vqjIjEtGX9WngjXKkDqlg-U2NVUia

ASL Interpretation is provided for this event.

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VIRTUAL TOURS: 40th Anniversary of the Alexander Girard Wing
Lectures and Talks

VIRTUAL TOURS: 40th Anniversary of the Alexander Girard Wing

January 12, 2023
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Kick-off the 40th Anniversary of the Alexander Girard Wing with the Museum of International Folk Art in December. As part of the Celebration, we invite you to join us for last presentationf of different virtual tours of the Wing- Nativities; 40th Fab Favs; and Focus on Five- presented over zoom with our Fabulous Docents as your guides. An engaging and intriguing peek into the world of "Multiple Visions: Common Bonds" for everyone; and all free. Please note tours run on MOUNTAIN TIME.

Register for the zoom at the date and time you prefer below:

About the Museum of International Folk Art: http://www.internationalfolkart.org

706 Camino Lejo, on Museum Hill in Santa Fe, NM 87505. (505) 476-1200.

Founded in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett, the Museum of International Folk Art’s mission is to foster understanding of the traditional arts to illuminate human creativity and shape a humane world. The museum holds the world’s largest international folk art collection of more than 150,000 objects from six continents and over 150 nations, representing a broad range of global artists whose artistic expressions make Santa Fe an international crossroads of culture. For many visitors, fascination with folk art begins upon seeing the whimsical toys and traditional objects within the Girard Collection. For others, the international textiles, ceramics, carvings and other cultural treasures in the Neutrogena Collection provide the allure.  The museum’s historic and contemporary Latino and Hispano folk art collections, spanning the Spanish Colonial period to modern-day New Mexico, reflect how artists respond to their time and place in ways both delightful and sobering. In 2010, the museum opened the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, where exhibitions encourage visitors to exchange ideas on complex issues of human rights and social justice.

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FRIENDS OF FOLK ART PRESENTS- MOIFA: America's First Modern Folk Art Museum
Friends of Folk Art (FOFA) Lectures and Talks Featured Event

FRIENDS OF FOLK ART PRESENTS- MOIFA: America's First Modern Folk Art Museum

January 15, 2023
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Led by Rachel Preston, Girard Researcher, and Architectural Historian

Museum of International Folk Art, Vernick Auditorium

Doors open at 2:00 PM

The architecture of the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) is a story unto itself. 

Girard researcher Rachel Preston will explore the evolution of the buildings and exhibits, investigating how style would define space as the museum evolved into the finest in the world and offer Santa Fe as a place to examine the concepts of modern architecture and design. Ms. Preston’s lecture will surely be a “must-attend event” for any Girard aficionado.

Registration is free for FOFA Members.

All participants must be current members of the Friends of Folk Art. To join FOFA, go to:  https://www.museumfoundation.org/friends/friends-of-folk-art/

To register, go to:  https://RachelPrestonlecture.eventbrite.com

If the Eventbrite link does not work, please copy and paste the link into your browser.

Masks are preferred. 

Rachel Preston Biography

Architectural historian Rachel Preston of Santa Fe has been leading the documentation of Alexander Girard’s work in New Mexico for more than a decade.  Highlights of her work include:

  • Completing the relocation and preservation plan for Girard’s mural at Albuquerque’s Unitarian Church.
  • Researching the restoration of his mural, interiors, and furnishings at St. John’s College.
  • Documenting Girard’s complete works in New Mexico, including not just his home but also The Compound restaurant, for various magazines.
  • Compiling the story of the MOIFA’s architecture for El Palacio.

Rachel is currently documenting Girard’s use of symbols and patterns across his works.

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MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA
Family

MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA

January 22, 2023
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Join us for art in the atrium on Sundays with art projects, coloring sheets, and self-guided treasure hunts. Add to your explorations at MOIFA with fun collection-inspired bilingual art kits, facilitated by our fantastic MOIFA docents. Our projects are always changing with changing gallery treasure hunts for the whole family.   This month’s themes:

  • Sunday, January 22nd – Make an Ojo de Dios!
  The program time is from 10 am - 4 pm, and the program is free with museum admission. Museum admission is always free for Kids and Members, program included with admission. 

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La Cartonería Mexicana/The Mexican Art of Paper and Paste
Performance Exhibition Opening

La Cartonería Mexicana/The Mexican Art of Paper and Paste

January 29, 2023
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Join us for the exhibit opening - FREE Admission for everyone all day!

1:30 -  3:30 pm    Musical performances by Nacha Mendez, and Ballet Folklorico performing ensemble of LNSF.

2:00 -  4:00 pm    Women’s Board hosts refreshments in the Atrium.

Called cartonería in Mexico, papier-mâché is an integral part of Mexican culture. It uses simple materials of paste, cardboard, and paper evolving from religious purposes to create a diverse array of subjects such as piñatas, dolls, skeletons, toys, and fantastical animals called alebrijes. 

Called cartonería in Mexico, papier-mâché is an integral part of Mexican culture. It uses simple materials of paste, cardboard, and paper evolving from religious purposes to create a diverse array of subjects such as piñatas, dolls, skeletons, toys, and fantastical animals called alebrijes. 

 Cartonería is used in regional and religious festivals throughout the year in Mexico. Cartoneros, artists who create the papier-mâché sculptures,  organize their production year around the popular fiestas of Carnival in early spring, Holy Week in late spring, Corpus Christi in summer, Día de Muertos in autumn, and Christmas in winter. 

The exhibition will feature more than 100 items from the permanent collection, including many objects from the private collection of modernist designer and Santa Fe resident, Alexander Girard, and donations and purchases throughout the history of the museum. 

Most of the work included is made in the two most popular areas for the creation of cartonería–the metropolitan area of Mexico City and the city of Celaya in the state of Guanajuato. The Indigenous masks are from the state of Nayarit. The work in this exhibition spans approximately a forty-year period between 1960 and 2000.   

The Ballet Folklorico performing ensemble of LNSF, directed by Antonina Valdez-Romp, is dedicated to preserving the traditional dances of Mexico.  The Ballet delivers a vibrant and colorful presentation of traditional and modern movements with quick stomping footwork that defines the dances of Mexico.  A joyful and graceful demonstration of dance, music, and costumes.  LNSF seeks to instill life skills in each participant with a positive role model emphasizing respect, discipline, and cultural tolerance to each student.

Nacha Mendez is pioneering the genre of World Latin music, drawing from the influences of her youth combined with the formal training she received during her world travels. Nacha grew up as Marghreta Cordero in the tiny border town of La Union, in southern New Mexico, where she began singing and playing the guitar at an early age. She learned traditional Ranchera Cancion from her grandmother and performed in border towns near El Paso with her cousins the Black Brothers. Nacha is recipient of the New Mexico Music Commission’s 2018 Platinum Music Award.

She went on to study classical voice and electronic music at New Mexico State University before moving to New York City, where she studied flamenco guitar with Manuel Granados of the Music Conservatory.

Photo Credits:  Addison Doty

   

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