MIAC | January 2025

A century ago, Tesuque Pueblo artist Juan Pino was introduced to linoleum block printing, transforming the medium into a unique expression of Pueblo life. MIAC proudly presents, Printing the Pueblo World: Juan Pino of Tay Tsu’geh Oweenge, an exhibition showcasing 20 of Pino’s extraordinary linocut prints, offering a window into daily life in Tesuque Pueblo. This exhibit opened Sunday, December 15th and featured a tour with Mark Mitchell, grandson of Juan Pino, former Tesuque governor, and contributor to the exhibit.

The upcoming Engaging the Future exhibition will feature the work and words of 18 contemporary Native artists at different stages of their artistic journey who have graduated from the Goodman Aspiring Artist Fellowship housed at MIAC. Their work encompasses a variety of mediums including printmaking, photography, painting, jewelry, film, fashion, and mixed media. This exhibition is scheduled to open in the JoAnn and Bob Balzer Native Market and Contemporary Art Gallery on Sunday, February 23, 2025.

This past month the Museum of New Mexico Foundation hosted a Makowa: The Worlds Above Us event in Los Alamos to share information on the upcoming exhibition with the wider community. The event included a phenomenal presentation by Cherilynn A. Morrow, PhD, Outreach Director for the NASA PUNCH mission. Cherilynn elaborated on the perfect partnership between MIAC and NASA on the Makowa exhibition and related outreach.

MIAC is excited to add two new technicians to the Laboratory of Anthropology (LOA) team by the end of January, and they are currently interviewing a post-doc to add to the team by spring. The new hires will work alongside archivist Diane Bird (Santo Domingo Pueblo) to process the Bertha Dutton collection. They will also be working on a comprehensive plan to begin digitizing the collection, making the archives accessible far and wide. MIAC will be working alongside the New Mexico History Museum on this exciting initiative.

The MIAC education team has been very busy lately, hosting an average of three to four guided tours of the museum per week. Notably, over 100 students from the Siembra Leadership High School in Albuquerque were able to visit MIAC last month. The school would not have been able to visit without the help of donors. Donor funds covered the costs of transportation and snacks for the students on their visit. Other visiting groups have recently included the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo and San Ildefonso Pueblo tribal schools who decorated ornaments to drop off at their local senior centers ahead of the holidays. MIAC is pleased to share that since this October over 500 students and 300 adults have enjoyed guided tours of MIAC.

Lastly, MIAC's Archaeological Research Center housed at the Center for New Mexico Archaeology is excited to welcome four new staff by the end of January. The staff are all supported by grants from National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Bureau of Land Management. The new staff will be tasked with repatriating the collection and working with tribes to facilitate access to their own collections. MIAC is thrilled to have this additional support.