Curator’s Corner: Yucca

Flowering Yucca

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections We eat it, use it for fiber, use it for needles and awls, make sandals out of it, make soap out of it, we just love the many uses of Yucca! Yucca is the state plant of New Mexico — it grows throughout most of the Americas but most…

Read More

Colcha embroidery artist showcases work at China folk art market

Jula Gomez Colcha Artist

By Olivia Harlow of the Santa Fe New Mexican Longtime Traditional Spanish Market artist Julia Gomez has become an international ambassador for New Mexico’s heritage crafts. For the past four years, Gomez has showcased her colcha embroidery at a folk art market in China called the Belt and Road International Forum for Cultural Heritage Cooperation…

Read More

Curator’s Corner: Spindle Whorls

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections Here is a little insight on an overlooked object, but one that helped keep us clothed for a very long time. Spindles are long sticks used to spin yarn, and the Spindle Whorl is the weighted piece at the end that helps maintain the spindles speed and spin. Spindle…

Read More

Save the Date : Las Golondrinas Winter Lecture Series

Join us this winter at the New Mexico Museum of Art! January 28: Dr. Anna Nogar will speak on her book “Quill and Cross in the Borderlands: Sor Maria de Agreda and the Lady in Blue” February 25: Charlie Carrillo gives a talk on “Voice of the Hermandad: The History and Ritual of Penitentes” March…

Read More

Curator’s Corner: Adobe—The Mud You Can Live In

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections Adobe — who doesn’t love the stuff? Talk about an easy-to-find resource — it’s literally everywhere. Adobe was the first construction material used by homo sapiens — to this day, 50% of the world’s people still live in some form of mud dwelling. When people quit chasing big animals…

Read More

Curator’s Corner: The Ever-Humble Turkey

turkey

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections One of the few domesticated animals (dogs, llamas, guinea pigs, and Muscovy ducks being the others) in the New World, turkeys were ubiquitous in the Southwest. Although there is some debate among archaeologists as to whether turkeys were domesticated in Mesoamerica, most evidence suggests that they were first domesticated in…

Read More

Curator’s Corner: Pumpkins!

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections The humble pumpkin, or Cucurbita pepo has a fascinating history, and a really interesting present. Pumpkins are actually just one variety of winter squash, the pumpkin is simply the most recognizable. One of the oldest domestic crops, humans have been having their pumpkins and eating them too for about…

Read More

Las Golondrinas Board Member to Receive Community Award

Allan Affeldt

Allan Affeldt, a member of the Board of Directors of El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum, will receive the first Community and Business Partnership Award from the Main Street de Las Vegas organization at a gala at La Castañeda in Las Vegas on September 21. More than 350 are expected to attend this…

Read More

Curator’s Corner: Annual Sunflowers

by Amanda Mather, Curator of Collections Even long after agriculture had taken a firm grip amongst Pueblo people here in northern New Mexico, wild plant resources continued to be eaten, used medicinally, and, of course, used to make all manner of stuff. We can still see New Mexicans enjoying wild plant foods — I saw…

Read More