MOIFA | January 2024

Collections Care for the Taylor-Mesilla Historic Property

The Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA) has become the recent steward of collection objects located at the new Taylor-Mesilla Historic Property in Mesilla, New Mexico. The property consists of a large adobe home and two stores, with the oldest parts of the structure dating back to the late 1850s. In the 1950s, J. Paul and Mary Daniels Taylor moved into the home and filled it with an incredible collection of religious art, textiles from around the world, New Mexico colonial furniture, indigenous art, photographs, fine art, and folk art. The property and collections were bequeathed to the Museum of New Mexico as a historic site in 2003. MOIFA and Historic Site collection staff will begin a multi-year accessioning and cataloging project starting in the New Year. The collection will remain at the site and provide visitors with a setting to better understand the history and culture of Mesilla and greater New Mexico.

Teacher In-service Day

The education team is preparing for a teacher in-service day on January 20 for 50 local teachers featuring a workshop with multi-media, Denver based artist Cal Duran in conjunction with the La Cartonería Mexicana: Mexican Art of Paper and Paste exhibition.

 

Family Mornings at Folk Art

Family Mornings serving Pre-K to 8-year-olds and their parents are beginning again on January 7 with a theme of "Staying Warm" and focusing on activities and stories related to the

Ghhúunayúkata / To Keep Them Warm: The Alaska Native Parka exhibition.

Opening of Staff Picks: Favorites from the Collection

Staff Picks: Favorites from the Collection features objects that were selected by members of the MOIFA staff. This is the first exhibition that the museum has presented with work chosen by all staff.

The selections highlight the diversity of the museum’s collection and present the perspectives of staff through their favorite works. The museum collection has grown to over 162,000 objects, representing more than 100 countries since its founding in 1953. Staff made their selections by touring museum storage, researching work in the collection, picking pieces from previous exhibitions, or choosing from a geographic area.

The exhibition will also showcase 70 artworks from 26 countries and includes 38 recognized artists selected by 35 staff members, including representatives from each of our foundations (MNMF/IFAF), in the Bartlett Gallery from February 25 to August 18, 2024.

National Premiere Screening of the PBS Award-winning Series

If you missed the screening of the PBS “Craft in America” special, “MINIATURES,” you can view it here. The episode features New Mexico artists and organizations including Alexander Girard’s spectacular invented world housed in the museum’s Girard Wing; beloved New Mexico artist Gustave Baumann’s marionettes from the collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art; and International Folk Art Market artists who work at a diminutive scale, including Cuban artist Leandro Gómez Quintero, who creates small-scale, painstakingly detailed re-creations of vehicles using found materials.
For more information on upcoming museum events, including Holiday events on Museum Hill and Friends of Folk Art programs, please click here.

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To support MOIFA’s Exhibition Development Fund and/or Education Fund please contact Laura Sullivan at laura@museumfoundation.org or by phone at 505.216.0829.