New Mexico, Part 1

The next step with the community project brought us to New Mexico, first to Albuquerque for a meeting, then to Santa Fe for Indian Market. We had a great team of people which made a tremendous difference. Market is something to see--more than 1,100 Native artists all selling their wares on and around the Plaza. These pictures won't really give you a good idea of the craziness, but know that we had six people who walked Market for the entire two days, talking with artists and distributing information about the museum, and trying to collect feedback. We had 1,000 bags that we loaded and stuffed, and then handed out. There were huge sections of Market that I never even saw, and people I was hoping to say hello to that I never made it by. It was an incredible effort, and I hope that we made some good impressions. I think we did.


The non-profit booths were all in Cathedral Park, which turned out to be lovely. It made loading in and out much easier, and we had shade and some protection from the afternoon thunderstorms.


A small glimpse of Market. Imagine this scene, many many times over. Every street around the Plaza, and the Plaza itself, was covered with these tents. Often there were three sides of tents on a single street. It was amazing and daunting at the same time.


My friend and colleague Pablita is a potter/sculptor, and this was her booth. I am so proud of her! Not only did she take home a blue first-place ribbon for her work, but she also sold out! Go Pabs!!

Since Market was the weekend, I traded those days for Monday and Tuesday, and went to stay with my friend Kirt. He's a geologist, and had promised a hike. I was really looking forward to that, and to some down time. Turns out, the hike was Monday, so I was pretty beat. And as a result, Tuesday was the laziest day I'd had in some time. I felt rather guilty about that--having Bandelier National Monument so close, and great culture and museums, and I spent it sitting by the pond and reading. But I clearly needed the break. Many many thanks to Kirt and Val for their wonderful hospitality and company!


The site of our hike: Abiquiú.