During Patty Ortiz’s five years as director of the Museo de las Americas, she successfully heightened its profile by putting the spotlight almost exclusively on contemporary art, often of a decidedly avant- garde bent.
But since her arrival in May 2009, Maruca Salazar, former arts coordinator and arts staff developer for Denver Public Schools, has sought to create a broader mix of offerings that more closely matches her curatorial interests.
Part of that diversification has been an increased emphasis on the traditional arts, the focus of the Museo’s latest exhibition, “From the Earth,” which continues through Jan. 10.
It showcases 11 artists from Mexico and the American Southwest, including several who have gained national and international fame, such as Eppie Archuleta of Capulin, a 1985 winner of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The offering’s only downside is that several of the artists are represented by just two or three examples — not enough to get much of a sense of their work — and the overall display looks too small and scant spread across the museum’s three main galleries.
That said, there is much to admire among the selections that are on view, especially Archuleta’s two masterful rugs, including an untitled one in the Rio Grande style woven with wool that the artist cards, spins and dyes herself.
Its black-and-brown zigzag pattern seems straightforward at first, but closer examination reveals an extraordinary range of variations, such as tiny spots of blue and a faint line of melon, as well subtle explorations of positive and negative space.
Other standouts include the impeccably constructed, geometric pottery of Juan Quezada, who played a pivotal role in establishing the Mexican village of Mata Ortiz as an international center of clay production, and the lively carved katsina figures of Hopi artist Manuel Chavarria Denet.
Unique to the Southwest is a distinctive, indigeneous style known as contemporary Spanish colonial art — predominantly religious pieces with a history that can be traced back more than 300 years.
It is important to recall that the Spanish empire extended as far north as what is now southern Colorado. As in other parts of New Spain, immigrant and indigenous artists created rich, innovative variations on European Old Master paintings.
After Mexico gained its independence in 1821, New Mexico and Colorado were largely isolated, and the region’s Hispanic art took on its own identity — one that has evolved but remained solidly rooted in Spanish colonial traditions.
The Museo show includes a well-known exponent of this venerable style — Gloria Lopez Cordova of Cordova, N.M., who received a 2009 Master’s Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Spanish Colonial Arts Society.
Cordova continues her family’s long tradition of creating carved wooden sculptures of saints, or santos, using an approach in which the surface of the figures is left natural.
Thirteen Colorado artists who continue the contemporary Spanish colonial tradition are featured in “Santos 2010,” an exhibition of more than 90 objects on view through Dec. 10 in Regis University’s O’Sullivan Art Gallery.
Under the guidance of the Rev. Thomas Steele, who recently died, Regis began a collection of santos in 1966 that has since become one of the most important such holdings in the United States.
Regis’ gallery has sponsored four santos exhibitions since 1997, including this commendably wide-ranging one.
Of particular note are the updated, sometimes witty sculptures by Denver santero Jerry Vigil. Examples include “St. Drogo, Patron Saint of Coffee,” in which the carved medieval saint, popping out of a mug, is ensconced in a coffee can with a hinged door.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“From the Earth”
Art. Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive. An exhibition of traditional works from Mexico and the American Southwest by top artists working in the diverse media, including weaving, pottery and sand-painting. Through Jan. 10. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays; closed this weekend for renovations. $4, $3 students and seniors and free for members and children younger than 13. 303-571-4401 or
“Santos 2010.”
Art. O’Sullivan Art Gallery, Regis University, 3333 Regis Blvd. An exhibition of more than 90 contemporary Spanish colonial santos — traditional paintings and carved figures depicting Catholic saints — by 13 Colorado artists. Through Dec. 10. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 2 to 8 p.m. Thursdays. Free. 303-964-3634 or
