Full Circle: Taos Pueblo Contemporary opened on July 7th at the Couse-Sharp Historic Site’s Luna Chapel.
The opening coincided with the Foundation’s First Saturday Open House.The show runs through November 3rd and is on view during the week (today included), by appointment only.
The artists of the Taos Society of Artists were inspired by the art and culture of Taos Pueblo. The Society was formed for “educational purposes, to promote and stimulate the practical expressions of art—to preserve and promote the native art.” Many of the TSA artists developed lifelong friendships and even familial bonds with their Native models, who included Looking Elk, Hunting Son, Star Road, Elk Duststorm, Rain Coming Down, and Elkfoot to name just a few. TSA artists became strong advocates for Native rights and sovereignty.
Full Circle honors those relationships and the many artists from Taos Pueblo who continue to redefine Native art and identity, including Patricia Michaels, Sean Rising Sun Flanagan, Ken Romero, Ira Lujan, Maria Samora, Sonny Spruce, Jonathan Warm Day Coming and Angie Yazzie among others.
The exhibition of Native artists working in diverse media, in the Site’s 1835 Luna Chapel will have all exhibited items for sale.
Several of the artists participating in the exhibition won or placed in their artistic categories in the judging for the recently concluded Indian Market 2018 in Santa Fe. First place winners were ,Sean Rising Sun Flanagan drums; Ira Lujan, representational sculpture in glass; and Angie Yazzie, traditional unpainted pottery, micaceous ware. Second place winners were Sean Rising Sun Flanagan, drums (he won both first and second place); Debbie Lujan, black-and-white photography; and Ken Romero, contemporary jewelry, rings.
This Saturday, September 1st, the featured artist is accomplished painter and illustrator, Jonathan Warm Day Coming. He is one of 19 Taos Pueblo artists included in the exhibition.
“In my work… I hope to help preserve a record of the traditional life of our people and to educate those who know little of us, desiring that increased knowledge and understanding will help all of us to live better with one another and with the natural world.” says Jonathan Warm Day Coming in his artist statement.
I have known Jonathan for many years and have been constantly blown away by his dedication to his process and the way he has managed to walk in two worlds with such grace and dignity.
I met Jonathan through our mutual friend,Chaya Vance (formerly Helen Victor), who once owned the Casa de Milagro, a magical B&B where El Monte Sagrado now stands. He credits Chaya (Helen Victor), for supporting his work in its early stages.
Jonathan has shown here in Taos at the Harwood Museum where his work is included in the museum’s collection.
Jonathan is currently co-authoring (with Lois Rudnick), a book about his family’s long involvement with the arts (and the TSA), here in Taos. The book will be published by Museum of New Mexico Press.
During the open house, you can tour the studios of E. I. Couse and J. H. Sharp, two of the founders of the Taos Society of Artists (TSA), and enjoy a delightful stroll through Virginia Couse’s beautiful garden. Docents will be present in every room providing in-depth knowledge of the E. I. Couse home and studio, the Kibbey Couse laboratory and machine shop, and the exhibition J. H. Sharp: The Life and Work of an American Legend in the recently restored 1915 Sharp Studio.
Free parking is available in the public lot at the bottom of the hill about a half block east on Kit Carson Road.
Couse-Sharp Historic Site Luna Chapel is at 146 Kit Carson Road. The open house and talk by Taos Pueblo painter Jonathan Warm Day is on Saturday September 1st from 3-5 pm, (with Jonathan Warm Day’s talk beginning at 2pm.)
For more information on the Couse-Sharp site and this Saturday’s event, please visit the sites linked below this post.
Portrait of Jonathan Warm Day by Paul O’Connor
Other images thanks to JWDC
