One of the most anticipated events each summer in Santa Fe is the Spanish Market, the oldest and most important annual exhibition and sale of contemporary Spanish colonial art anywhere. More than 300 artists are set to take part in the 2005 installment this weekend on the city’s plaza.
To mark the event, The Post asked five Coloradans who are either regular attendees or participants to share some memories of the market:
“My favorite memory of Spanish Market occurred the year I sponsored my 8-year-old neighbor, Angelica López, as a youth artist. She painted retablos in a childish hand but with some delightful innovations in composition and iconography.
“The example I remember best was a painting of the Virgin of Sorrows. The dagger representing her sorrows is normally shown piercing the Virgin’s heart, but instead Angelica had placed it to the left, flying through the air toward her. The Virgin’s eyes looked to the side with great trepidation at the dagger headed for her.
“Needless to say, with these clever, but still accurate representations, her retablos were immediately popular and sold quickly. After the usual early morning frenzy, she only had a handful left when there was a brief lull at mid-morning.
“Sitting next to me she suddenly said, ‘My cheeks hurt.’ I looked over at her and she had this huge grin on her face. I said, ‘Stop smiling.’ And she said, ‘I can’t.”‘
– Donna Pierce, curator of Spanish colonial art, Denver Art Museum
“My first (Spanish) Market was in 1975 when I purchased a St. Jude retablo (patron of hopeless cases!), and I’ve been coming practically every year since, having accumulated sufficient art to populate a small chapel.
“The quality of the art and artists has improved measurably in recent years, as each artist subconsciously improves from the inspiration of his colleagues. Many artists stick to traditional representations, but the quality artists are stretching the tradition quite ably and creatively.”
– Edward Connors, Englewood collector
“As Spanish Market artists, we have many memories of past markets. Our first year (1995) everyone had their own set-ups and ours was not the best. We purchased stick-on Velcro hangers for our art to hang them on our display. As the sun got hotter in the plaza, the glue on these Velcro hangers came loose!
“Our booth was full of buyers, and we had 70 pieces on display. Every minute or so another piece would come raining down to the hot pavement! It was impossible to tell which piece was next to fall. Some pieces got damaged but we did manage to survive.”
– Catherine Robles-Shaw, Nederland santera
“Since 1993, the Taylor Museum has been making a concerted effort to build a collection of contemporary Hispanic arts based on its excellent Spanish colonial collections.
“The best part of this experience is getting to meet the artists and coming to know them. We’ve been lucky to include quite a few award-winning works from Spanish Market in our collection.
“One of my personal favorite experiences each year is meeting with my curatorial colleagues from the other great museums of Hispanic arts.
“One year, being the only curator with funds to spend, I had the support and expertise of these curators who accompanied me through the Market, giving advice and cheering me on as I selected a wonderful trastero (cabinet) by Chris Sandoval to purchase for the Taylor Museum.”
– Cathy Wright, chief curator and director of the Taylor Museum, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
“Sometimes the best experiences in life are the ones that are unexpected. In 1990, I was working as a consultant at the Palace of the Governors on the Plaza in Santa Fe and walked out the door and right into my first Spanish Market.
“I knew something special was happening because of the music and the noise. Within no time at all I was doing the circuit of booths, meeting artists, and buying art. My first purchase was a large retablo by Charlie Carrillos.”
– Carl Patterson, conservator, Denver Art Museum
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
Spanish Market
ART FOR SALE|Exhibition and sale of contemporary Spanish colonial art|Plaza, Santa Fe|Free|8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m-5 p.m. Sunday (505-982-2226 or spanishcolonial.org)
3more
“Light Phenomena” Using crude photographic devices, Santa Fe artist Erika Blumenfeld creates transcendent, abstract images of the sun and moon. Her latest show runs through Aug. 13 at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail. 505-982-1338 or ccasan tafe.org.
“Connections Over Time” Major and minor works from the career of famed 20th-century painter Milton Avery are on view through Aug. 15 at Riva Yares Gallery, 123 Grant Ave., which has long represented Avery’s estate. 505-984-0330 or rivayaresgallery.com.
“Ken Price” Price is one of today’s most-admired and sought-after clay artists. Recent small sculptures by him are on view through Sept. 10 at James Kelly Contemporary, 616 1/2 Canyon Road. 505-989-1601 or jameskelly.com.
-Kyle MacMillan
