![]() ![]() Museum hours are Monday through Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 1-5. The Wheelwright is conveniently located at 704 Camino Lejo on Museum Hill in Santa Fe. Exhibitions feature works by established and emerging Native American artists and photographers. It is not only a story about artifacts, but also of personalities, innovations, perseverance, and ultimately the survival of traditions.įounded in 1937, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian offers changing exhibitions of contemporary and historic Native American art with an emphasis on the Southwest. The rich, complex, and controversial story of the curio trade in New Mexico is told here for the first time. Among the artists included in the exhibition are Mark Chee, Ambrose Roanhorse, David Taliman, and Manuel Naranjo. Nevertheless, many young men who learned silversmithing in curio shops had successful and celebrated careers as jewelers following World War II. Unidentified workman at 110-ton press, Maisel’s Indian Trading Post, ca. Production methods in the shops threatened native traditions and economies, affected the teaching of silversmithing in the Indian schools, and eventually led to federal scrutiny of and control over shop-made jewelry. The experience, however, was not without controversy. Observing a jeweler at work and obtaining a piece of Indian jewelry became an integral part of the touristic experience in New Mexico. In the 1920s machine-assisted jewelry production spread to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and hundreds of young Native American men moved to the cities to work in the curio shops. Starting with the arrival of the railroad in 1880, Pueblo and Navajo artisans collaborated with non-Indian dealers to invent artifacts that had no purpose but to satisfy the demand for Indian goods.įrom its inception, the curio trade comprised cottage industries, retail spaces, and a vast mail-order trade, and objects were sold by the thousands.Įarly in the 20th century businessmen in Denver invented “Indian style” jewelry, made with the aid of machinery. Representing the culmination of nearly two decades’ research by Wheelwright director Jonathan Batkin, the exhibition is accompanied by a 336-page, full-color catalog, The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico. Photo Archives, Palace of the Governors, Museum of New Mexico/Department of Cultural Affairs, Santa Fe, 9894.įrom May 18, 2008, through April 19, 2009, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian presents a major exhibition, From the Railroad to Route 66: The Native American Curio Trade in New Mexico. ![]() Jake Gold and unidentified Pueblo woman with child, ca. Jake Gold and unidentified Pueblo woman with child, ![]()
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