Santa Fe, NM - Oasis in the desert

Santa Fe in New Mexico came as something of a surprise to me. This town in the middle of the desert (almost) was a very art-focused town. As you walk around the centre of town there are multiple small galleries with every different type of art available. It was like a bigger version of St Ives in Cornwall or a town in Cape Cod - without being anywhere near the sea!

The first official gallery/museum that I visited was the Georgia O'Keefe museum. This had some of her work within it (close-up paintings of flowers in the main) but was mainly a special exhibition looking at the links between photography and painting in American art, which had some interesting pieces.

On another positive accident of timing, Friday evening saw free entry to the main museums in Santa Fe. I therefore looked round both the New Mexico Museum of Art (which included an exhibition looking at photography of the environment) and the New Mexico History Museum, which tells the story of the state from Spain to Mexico to part of the USA. The museum is partially situated in the Palace of the Governors, which is the oldest public building in the United States. It dates from the 17th century, although has been remodeled several times over the years, and first became a museum 100 years ago. It is the penultimate photo below.

Saturday saw more positive coincidences. First of all, it was both free entry at the SITE contemporary art gallery, it was also the first day of two new exhibitions there, the pick of which was work by Pae White. Secondly, the main square in Santa Fe had been taken over for an Arts and Crafts fair, with lots of small stands. Overall, a very interesting place to visit, and plenty that I did not have time to see whilst I was there.
The architecture in Santa Fe was also interesting. Many buildings were built (I guess using sand) in a style which means that they don't have many straight lines, but instead look very old (although I guess in many cases they are not as one building looking like this was a car park!)

These chillies were drying in the courtyard of the New Mexico Art Museum.

The fish found it slightly dry in Santa Fe...