3/29 Museum Hill, Santa Fe, NM - Part 1

 I decided to break this up into two posts because there is just too much for one post.  

Museum Hill is a place on the outskirts of Santa Fe, where there are several large museums:

• The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
  
• The Museum of International Folk Art
• The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
• The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
• The Santa Fe Botanical Gardens

I had known from past trips that I needed to park in the dirt lot across the street near the botanical museum, but there was lots of space over there.  Also, today was the first warm day since I have been in this area!!  Yea!!  

I had been here before, but it was a long time ago, and I had not visited the Museum of International Folk Art, so I started out there. 

 

 

There are three main areas in this museum.  The first is a display of Japanese ghost art, as evidenced by the photos below. 

 

 

The next section was Mexican festival art.  Most of the items displayed were 20th Century and typical of face masks, costumes, and characters from various festivals.  

 

 

These items were about a foot tall, but very creative.  

Next, occupying the largest part of this museum, The Girard Wing, was a collection of Mexican folk art collected by a couple who traveled to Mexico on their honeymoon in 1939, fell in love with folk art, and came back with several carloads and then truckloads of things.  They also traveled to other parts of the world and continued their amazing collection.  Eventually, they donated 106,000 pieces which were donated to this museum. It is truly amazing!

The items are arranged in large vignettists showing scenes of life and festivals in various places.  I can show you only a sampling, but you really have to go here to appreciate these displays.  

I took this photo to give you an idea of the size of this exhibit room. 

 

 

This is just a small sample of one of the vignettes.  

 

 

And here is another, more detailed with several hundred figures.  And, by the way, almost all of these vignettes can be seen from all sides, but I took only a few photos. 

 

 

This item below is one of several vignettes that were sort of doll houses.  This first photo shows what looks like a toy store. 

 

 

This is a closeup of the wall on the left side of the toy store above.  Amazing detail.  Some of these items are less than an inch tall.  

 

 

And this is a closeup of the wall on the right of the toy store.  The wall is only about 9" tall, so items are tiny but very detailed.  

 

 

Amazing! 

 

 

In the hallway on the way out, there was this vignette that was only about 30" tall.  In the next photo I took a closeup on the middle level.  The whole display is of a festival of some sort. 

 

 

Lots of prickly pear cactus in fruit in this vignette.  Most of the figures were only about an inch tall.  Maybe a 100 items in each level??  

 Anyway, I did not know what to expect from this museum, but I was certainly impressed at least with this part of it.  

Sometimes, parts of this display go on tour and are showcased in other museums, so if you see a Girard folk art display announced, don't skip it.