Arts and Culture in Santa Fe

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The city is well-known as a center for arts that reflect the multi-cultural character of the city. Art is a key component of life in Santa Fe with over 200 art galleries, 22 performing arts organizations, numerous arts events and hundreds of working artists attracting visitors from all over the world.

The annual International Folk Art Market, a marketplace for artists and craftsmen from many diverse cultures, is a new feature in Santa Fe (since 2004). Santa Fe was named a Creative City by UNESCO in 2005, the first city in North America to receive this designation.

Visual art and galleries

The town and the surrounding areas have a high concentration of artists. They have come over the decades to capture on canvas and in other media the natural beauty of the landscape, the flora and the fauna. One of the most well-known New Mexico-based artists was Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived for a time in Santa Fe but primarily in Abiquiu, a small village about 50 miles (80 km) away. The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe is devoted to exhibitions of her work and associated artists or related themes. As of March 2006, it holds over one thousand of her works in all media.

Canyon Road, east of the Plaza, has the highest concentration of art galleries in the city, and is a major destination for tourists and locals. Santa Fe's art market is the third largest in the United States, after New York and Los Angeles, and the Canyon Road galleries showcase a wide array of contemporary Southwestern, indigenous American, and experimental art, in addition to older Russian, Taos Masters, and Native American pieces.

Another notable gallery is the Chuck Jones Gallery in downtown Santa Fe near the plaza. It contains several posters, stills, and animation cells from Jones' Looney Tunes career.

Sculpture

There are many outdoor sculptures, including many statues of Saint Francis, and several other holy figures, such as Kateri Tekakwitha. Given that Saint Francis was known for his love of animals it is not surprising that there are great numbers of representations of crows, bulls, elephants, livestock and other beasts, all over town. The styles run the whole spectrum from Baroque to Post-modern.

Literature

Numerous authors followed the influx of specialists in the visual arts. Well-known writers like Cormac McCarthy, Roger Zelazny, Alice Corbin Henderson, George R. R. Martin, Mitch Cullin, Evan S. Connell, Richard Bradford, and Jack Schaefer have been residents of Santa Fe. Walker Percy lived on a dude ranch outside of Santa Fe before returning to Louisiana to begin his literary career.

Music and opera

Santa Fe OperaMusic and opera are well represented in Santa Fe with the annual Santa Fe Opera productions, which take place between late June and late August each year, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival which is also held at the same time, mostly in the recently-refurbished movie theatre, the Lensic Theater, now a major performing arts venue.

Museums

Santa Fe has many world-class museums. Many are located around the historic downtown Plaza or close by:

• New Mexico Museum of Art - collections of Southwestern Arts.
• Institute of American Indian Arts Museum - Native American arts with political aspects.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum - devoted to the work of O'Keeffe and others whom she influenced.
• The History Museum - currently located in the historic Palace of the Governors, showcasing the history of Santa Fe.

Others are located in the Museum Hill district:

• Museum of International Folk Art - showcasing folk art and craftsmanship from around the world.
• Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Laboratory of Anthropology - exhibits Native American arts.
• Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian - Native American potteries.
• Museum of Spanish Colonial Art - arts during Spanish-colonial era.