Footsteps in time

A visit to a museum store in Taos is certainly a treat for not only visitors, but locals as well. So, where to start? This historic district, for one, offers museum stores within walking distance to Taos Plaza.

Harwood Museum of Art

Affiliated with the University of New Mexico, the Harwood Museum of Art has a deep and storied history. Its collections include some of the most prestigious works by renowned historic and contemporary artists such as Agnes Martin, for whom a special gallery has been dedicated. The museum shows a variety of works from its extensive collection as well as specially curated exhibitions that highlight the lively art community of this region.

Its museum store recently underwent an extensive renovation which had a grand reopening in August 2024, according to a Taos News story by Ekin Balcıoğlu. The Harwood Museum store is noted for its selection of books, notecards, original works and prints of artworks by local creatives. The store’s Katy Ballard told Balcıoğlu, "Our facilities team worked so hard to build up the infrastructure of the store. It’s a retail space, yes, but it’s also a part of supporting the bigger vision of the museum.”

“Harwood Museum of Art Museum Store is more than a retail location,” reads its website. “With a special focus on one-of-a-kind treasures created by local and regional artists and artisans, the store reflects a love of the art and culture of Northern New Mexico … When you shop at the museum store, not only do you help support the artists we feature, but you also take a piece of the Harwood, Taos, and Northern New Mexico home.”

The Harwood Museum of art is located at 238 Ledoux Street, within walking distance to Taos Plaza. For details on events and exhibitions, visit harwoodmuseum.org.

E.L. Blumenschein Home and Museum and Hacienda de los Martínez

Just up the road at 222 Ledoux Street is the historic E.L Blumenschein Home and Museum. Under the umbrella of the Taos Historic Museums, the museum is located in the former home of artist Ernest Blumenschein. In 1898, fellow painters Blumenschein and Bert Phillips were on a sketching trip from Denver to Mexico when a wheel on their wagon broke near Questa, New Mexico.

It was Blumenschein who hiked the 20 or so miles south to get it fixed in Taos. What he discovered there would change both their lives. It was an artist’s dream: Colorful vistas, Hispano and Native American villagers living along dusty roads and in rustic adobe homes seemed suspended in time.

The rest, as they say, is history, as Blumenschein and Phillips, along with other like-minded painters, soon established a colony known as the Taos Society of Artists.

The museum commemorates this moment through the display of the Blumenschein family’s belongings and furniture as a gift to the community of Taos and the Taos Historic Museums. It also celebrates the lives and art of Ernest L. Blumenschein, his wife Mary Shepherd Greene Blumenschein and their daughter Helen. The museum was registered as a National Historic Landmark in 1966.

Also under the auspices of the Taos Historic Museums is the historic Hacienda de los Martínez, located a little over a mile south at 708 Hacienda Way, off Lower Ranchitos Road (NM 240). The property, located along the Rio Pueblo, was purchased by Don Antonio Severino Martin (later Martínez) and his wife Maria del Carmel Santistévan in 1804.

The couple built a large fortress-like hacienda with high walls and two enclosed plazuelas. Here the couple raised six children, one of whom would grow up to become one of the most well-known community leaders, Padre Antonio José Martínez.

“Padre Martínez dedicated his life to serving his community’s spiritual needs, but he also represented Taos in both the Mexican and American territorial legislatures,” according to the late Taos News journalist Jerry Padilla. “He believed education was a liberating force. He started the first co-ed school here, brought the first printing press to New Mexico, and founded a news circular, a precursor of the Taos News.”

Taos Historic Museums board president Rob Nightingale said the hacienda’s store features a fine collection of various gifts, made by local artisans. “We can always use more,” he said.

For more information, visit online taoshistoricmuseums.org or call 575-758-0505.

Kit Carson Home and Museum

Maybe it’s a signal pointing to the independent nature of Taos citizens, but one cannot help but note the transformation that Christopher “Kit” Carson underwent as his legend evolved from mountain man, trailblazer and dime novel hero to what many now call a controversial figure. Whatever one’s point of view of the man might be, it’s impossible to ignore his colorful place in the history of frontier New Mexico.

The home of Kit Carson is maintained as a museum and features adobe-walled rooms outfitted with authentic furnishings and artifacts that look as though Kit himself might someday walk through with his wife Josefa. At the entrance is a well-stocked gift shop featuring an extensive collection of books about Carson’s like and times, according to shop manager Dave Cordova. There’s even a video that visitors can watch before taking a tour of the site which features the likes of musician Michael Martin Murphey.

The Carson House and Museum is located at 113 Kit Carson Road, a short distance east of Taos Plaza. For more information, call 575-758-4945 or visit museum@kitcarsonhouse.org.

Couse-Sharp Historic Site and Lunder Research Center

Although its gift shop only exists online for now, this adjacent pair of art institutions is committed to bringing to light a scholarly approach to exploring the legacy of artists Eanger Irving Couse and Joseph Henry Sharp, two founding members of the Taos Society of Artists.

Located at 146 Kit Carson Road, the homes of each artist have been preserved in much the same way they looked as they engaged local Taos Pueblo Indians and Hispanos to serve as models for their renowned works of art. Adjacent to these sites, the Lunder Research Center takes a broader approach as it provides a research site and exhibition space to explore and interpret the legacy of the Taos Society of Artists.

“The site’s nearly unique authenticity of place affords the visitor a powerful experience of this remarkable part of the world, which continues to influence American art,” says Davison Koenig, Couse Sharp Historic Site executive director and curator, on the Lunder website.

For more, visit the site’s online store at couse-sharp.org/shop.

Taos Art Museum at Fechin House

Working at the Taos Art Museum at Fechin House “can be dangerous,” says executive director Christy Coleman, but not in a way you might think. Coleman says the museum store has so many tantalizing gifts it’s hard not to crack open her pocketbook at every opportunity.

From books and notecards about the museum’s namesake to original paintings, jewelry (works by Taos Pueblo’s Jacqueline Gala are a must-see), and scented items from Taos Light Goods are perfect ways to remember your visit.

Perusing the museum is a rich experience. It was built by the famous Russian painter Nicolai Fechin over several years after he and his wife Alexandra emigrated to the U.S. in 1923. At first, they resided at the home of renowned art patron Mabel Dodge Lujan, then later acquired a two-story home from a Dutch couple who moved back to Holland. Once in the home, Fechin set about designing and building one of the most unique structures in Taos while also producing a large body of artwork for which he became world famous.

In 1979, the Fechin House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the State of NM Registered Cultural Properties. According to a history at taosartmuseum.org, “Living in the studio, Eya created the Fechin Institute and maintained active exhibition and education programs until her death in November 2002.”

The Fechin also is presently home to the Taos Art Museum collection. Signature works by members of the Taos Society of Artists were originally exhibited at the Van Vechten-Lineberry Taos Art Museum. Its mission was owner Edwin Lineberry’s intention to honor his late wife, the artist Duane Van Vechten. It opened at the Lineberry estate in 1994 but eventually moved to the Fechin home in 2003.

For more about the Taos Art Museum at Fechin House, visit the site at 227 Paseo del Pueblo Norte or online at taosartmuseum.org.

Millicent Rogers Museum

One of the largest and most varied institutions, the Millicent Rogers Museum is a can’t-miss stop on your Taos museum tour. You can find it by taking a short drive north of the plaza on U.S. 64–NM 285 and turning off at Millicent Rogers Road in El Prado.

Founded by Paul and Arturo Peralta Ramos, the sons of Standard Oil heiress Millicent Rogers in honor of their mother, who passed in 1953, the museum originated in the town of Taos before Claude J.K. and Betty Anderson donated their sprawling adobe home to house the museum and its collections on the sagebrush-covered mesa north of town.

Millicent Rogers was a high-fashion celebrity of her day who developed a great love of Native American and Southwestern arts and culture. It was here she settled and built a home near Lower Ranchitos.

Over the years, the Millicent Rogers Museum grew in accordance to its mission to preserve, display and interpret the arts of this region. It also has cultivated a close relationship with Taos Pueblo through special exhibitions and cultural connections. That mission also forms the bedrock of the museum store where manager Dawn Romero proudly features one of the largest collection of Native American jewelry found in the area. In addition, the store also features an extensive collection of books, pottery, textiles and original works of art by area artists.

Watch for announcements or various special exhibitions the staff curates on a regular basis by calling 575-758-2462 or visit millicentrogers,org.