The tiny village of Abiquiú in northern New Mexico is an artist enclave – there is a collective of artists who live in the village and use the jaw-dropping beauty of the natural surroundings as inspiration for their art – whether the art form emerges from oil or watercolor; metal, wood or paper; ceramics or pottery; jewelry or clothing; photography or music. The beauty, culture and history of this area attract creative souls who are inspired by the red cliffs, reflective lake, adobe buildings, dirt roads, and surrounding mesas, hills and plains. Other artists opened studios here to follow the footsteps of renowned artist Georgia O’Keeffe, who called this area home and lived in the village and at Ghostranch. The result? The village and surrounding area is home to many incredible artists who add a creative and vibrant energy to the area.
Many artists in the Abiquiú area have studios and galleries where collectors can visit. Visiting an artist’s studio can be fun, thought-provoking, and inspire creativity. Some studios and stores are open during published hours, others are open with advance reservation only. There are studios where you can see the artist at work and make purchases, galleries where you can view art, and stores where multiple artists' creations are featured and sold. Many galleries and studios are off the beaten track, set in beautiful natural settings. Whether you are devoted to one artist or interested in multiple artists – a day of art in Abiquiú will not disappoint.
ABIQUIÚ ARTIST STUDIO AND GALLERY VISITS
Please note that many artists’ galleries are by appointment only, and you must contact them in advance to schedule a showing. Below is a list of artists that have studio and gallery visits.
ARMANDO ADRIAN-LOPEZ Painting and 3D Mixed-Media
Gallery/Studio Gallery open by appointment only.
Artist Statement
Armando Adrian-López, a Mexican-born artist now residing in the United States, works primarily with two mediums, painting & 3D mixed-media. Armando Adrian-López's techniques and inspiration are gathered from the Old European Master and the Latin American Magical Realists of the 20th Century.
"My life is not separate from my art; my life is art and has always been art. I am, for all intent and purposes, self-taught. I have an unshakable belief in La Unidad, Unity in all things. I believe we are all connected to everything and everyone. I see myself as a spiritual storyteller; the narrative-symbolic allows me to tell a story in which I am not the sole interpreter; the viewer is also an interpreter. My imagery is intentionally accessible and universal by way of archetypes that are open and flexible enough to allow for many interpretations—not one interpretation. My use of visual language, the symbolic, expresses my intent to engage the viewer in a dialogue. Through this unspoken dialogue, an intimacy arises and the space to dream, imagine, contemplate—that, to me, is freedom."
Contact | Follow Website: https://armandolopez.com Instagram: @armandoadrianlopez Phone: (505) 685-4585
Email: armando@armandolopez.com
ARIN AND STAN BADER Folk Art, Crochet and Woodworking
Gallery/Studio Las Parras. Open by appointment.
Artists Statement: Arin and Stan own a certified organic farm with a vineyard, alfalfa hay and hemp along the Rio Chama River in Abiquiú. Arin took her first art class in high school, with the next one 32 years later in Cheyenne, Wyoming. They moved to Abiquiú in 1996. While attending an art fair at the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, Arin met the gourd artist D. R. Nance and took his class. She then started to make feathered gourd masks, which are sold at the Abiquiú Studio Tour. Arin also makes gourd bowls, Christmas ornaments, watercolor cards and crocheted afghans. Stan creates beautiful cottonwood bird houses.
Contact
Email: spbader1@gmail.com
Phone: 800-817-5955
JIM BAKER Mixed Media Sacred Devotional Artist
Gallery/Studio Santuario El Mirador (Sanctuary with a View). Gallery open by appointment only.
Artist Biography Jim Baker is a New Mexican mixed-media artist working in the creation of three dimensional devotional art. Jim’s work is strongly influenced by his years as a pastor and by his love for the Bible and sacred writings. His art uses antique religious artifacts, repurposed Bibles, reliquary altars, crosses, clay sculptures and spiritual symbols to illuminate Biblical passages, metaphors, and stories. Jim’s prayer is that his art will inspire devotion and worship of God, provoke spiritual conversations, and help to uncover the often hidden meaning in Holy Scripture.
Exhibitions and Galleries Seraphym Sacred Art Gallery (Santa Fe), Santa Fe
Loretto Inn and Spa (Santa Fe),
Jemez Fine Art Gallery (Jemez Springs), and
Convento Gallery, Espanola.
Contact | Follow
Website: https://www.sacredstructuresart.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SacredStructuresArt
Instagram: @jimbakersacredstructures
Email: jim@sacredstructures.org
Phone: 615-512-4700
LISA BAKER Painting/Mixed-Media and Repurposed
Personal Gallery/Studio Santuario El Mirador (Sanctuary with a View). Gallery open by appointment.
Artist Biography Though I have a BFA, with an emphasis in painting, from the University of Memphis, I cannot remember the last time I finished a painting and was NOT surprised. All too often, feathered, furry and scaly friends, on the canvas, invite me to take adventures not only with them, but also within. There I find an interconnectedness with nature and a bit more self-awareness. Exhibitions and Galleries Lisa shows her art at Convento Gallery in Espanola and annually, on the Abiquiú Studio Tour. Her work has been accepted in calls for art: Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos; Arte de Descartes XIX, Taos; Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos; Abbey Arts,Canon City, CO; Ghostwolf Gallery, Albuquerque; Jemez Springs Fine Art Gallery, Jemez Springs; Lavender Festival, Purple Adobe Lavender Farm in Abiquiú.
Contact | Follow
Website: https://sacredwithin.us/art
Email: lisa@SacredWithin.Us
Phone: 615-430-9410
CONNIE BURKHART Metal Design Artist
Personal Gallery/Studio Abiquiú Dome studio and gallery. Open during high season (open May through October.) Artist Biography Widely known as ‘The Dinosaur Lady’, Connie has embraced her multifaceted interests and talents to create a life that allows her to follow her dreams. She is a metal design artist, singer-songwriter, musician, mother, educator in earth sciences and a true renaissance woman! Living in canyon country where the ancient ones once walked has been a desire of hers for decades and in 2016 with her move from Lyons, CO to Abiquiú, NM, her dream became a reality. Her studio and home sit nestled near the cliffs in the Chama River valley surrounded by red rock mesas, archaeological sites and the amazing geology at the edge of the Colorado plateau.
Her gallery for her metal designs has found a home the Abiquiú Dome, her unique adobe structure on HWY 84. Just a few miles away is Ghost Ranch, where she began her adventures in the art of burning metal during an Art Welding workshop. Ghost Ranch offered Connie a space to indulge in many art forms as well as ‘excavate’ her love of music, songwriting and hunting for fossils and cultural artifacts in the rich history filled land of Northern New Mexico. She is an instructor at the ranch teaching Art Welding and sharing her love of the high desert through hiking workshops and other special events. Connie's love of the Southwest flows through all of her work including the images she produces with metal, the lyrics of her songs and the stories she tells of hunting dinosaur bones or discovering ancient artifacts. Her ability to celebrate her love of art and science blends her varied interests to her businesses - a metal arts division, performance/CD division and the geology/earth science education division.
For Connie, creative inspiration comes from many things, whether it be finding a treasure in a pile of scrap metal, exploring the land, watching the sunset as it washes the land in warm light or finding a sunflower that grows in the sand. Contact | Follow Website: https://connieburkhart.com Instagram: @Abiquiudome Phone: 505 484-9887
JAYE BUROS AND BILL PAGE Painted Landscapes
Personal Gallery/Studio Raven in the Sun Studio. Directions: 1150 Country Road 142, Abiquiú. Take 84 south through the village of Abiquiú. Turn left at 554 to El Rito (by Mamacita’s Pizza). Drive over the Rio Chama bridge, and take a right onto 142.
Artist Biography Color is such a treat for my eyes, sometimes I go outrageous and other times I can actually enjoy the subtle soft color in a face. I like to have the full range of expression. To experiment and to leave room for play. I am still emerging - so come visit and see for yourself. Wander through our gardens and enjoy the gentle beauty of Jaye Buros painted landscapes and playful paintings by Bill Page in their space, called Raven in the Sun, surrounded by adobe walls.
Contact | Follow
Email: jnb36@valornet.com
Phone: 505-685-4159
DEBRA FRITTS Ceramic Sculpture and Mixed Media
Personal Gallery/Studio Studio One Thirty Nine. Gallery visits are by appointment only. Call 505 685-9468 for reservations.
Artist Biography Debra Fritts is a studio artist working in Abiquiú, New Mexico. She has national recognition for her work in ceramic sculpture through invitational exhibitions, museum exhibitions and collections, gallery representation, private collections and publications. Her sculptures are hand-built and multiple fired with a painterly glazed surface. The sculptures are a continuous story of awareness and the celebration of daily living. As a child I had dirt under my fingernails. I continue to allow the earth to feed me information for my art and daily living. Working intuitively from pounds of wet clay, forms appear and stories develop. I may be questioning an occurrence or celebrating a relationship or just being present in daily life. The search continues until I reach the core: the spiritual level of the sculpture. Then the work can speak. At the present, I am exploring new territory in the west while embracing my southern heritage. I am touching ground, getting to the basics, and listening. I hand build each sculpture, primarily using thick coils, and fire three to five times depending on the color and surface I am trying to achieve. I approach color on clay as a painter. My palette is a combination of oxides, slips, underglazes, and glazes. The form of the piece informs how I should approach the surface.
Exhibitions and Galleries
Debra's work is shown in her private gallery in Abiquiú, Studio One Thirty Nine, and in Leipers Creek Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee; Jones Walker Gallery, Taos, NM; Trove Gallery, Park City, Utah; Homefrocks, Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM. Small pieces are also available in the Mercado gift store at The Grand Hacienda Inn.
Contact | Follow Website: Debrafrittsartist.com Instagram: @Debrafritts Facebook: Debrafritts, Debrafrittsartist, StudioOneThirtyNine
RICK HILSABECK Painter
Personal Gallery/Studio Open by appointment only.
Artist Biography Rick Hilsabeck was a highly successful professional actor on the Broadway stage and around the world, playing diverse roles such as The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dad in Billy Elliot, The Musicalamong many others. While Rick has been painting from a young age, his experience as an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer and director have greatly informed his fine art. Rick has loved color ever since he can remember and is a consummate colorist, mixing his oil paint both on the palette and directly on the canvas, board or paper. Frequently utilizing gold leaf as well as metallic pigments along with oils, acrylics and pastels, applied with brush, knife, fingers, cloth, and trowels, Rick paints impressionistic landscapes and still lifes. His current work is in abstract landscapes. He has studied at The School of The Art Institute and is a student of Colorado Impressionist painter, Chuck Ceraso, protégée of Henry Hensche. He was selected to paint in the Impressionist galleries of The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and has shown throughout New England. Rick is happy to be painting full time now in his permanent new home and studio here in Abiquiú, where he finds limitless inspiration. He and his wife, Sarah love their new community of many gifted artists and wonderful neighbors. Rick’s work hangs in many private collections and he also accepts commissions.
Exhibitions and Galleries
Rick's work is exhibited at the annual Abiquiú Studio Tour and hang in many private collections throughout the country.
Contact | Follow Website: www.rickhilsabeck.com Instagram: @rickhilsabeckart Phone: 203-286-9201
TAMARA KAY
Jewelry
Personal Gallery/Studio Jewelry is crafted and sold in her gallery, Nest, located along the Old Spanish National Historic Trail in Abiquiú. Directions: Take Hwy 84 to County Rd 162 ( if traveling from Santa Fe north on 84, the turn is on the left after Bodes...If traveling from Abiquiú Lake south on 84, the turn is on the right before Bodes. You will have the river Chama to your right on 162.) In 1.4 miles continue straight onto 167. Go 150 yards and turn left onto 166. Follow the nests and feathers.
Tamara: I am a metalsmith. I love to manipulate the precious materials I work with by dapping, hammering, heating, twisting, sculpting and etching to create textures and images that, to me, are like the landscapes that surround me. I love to select unusual and collectable rare gemstones to embellish these "landscapes in metal" and bring the observer in for a closer look, much like a flower, a rock, a drop of water , or some Suessian plant can be a miracle when happened upon and truly observed. As a woman, I understand how this translates to the embellishment of the female figure. I understand the beauty that is drawn out from within when one wears something that is treasured and has a sacred connection with the wearer. I imbue this spirit into each and every piece that I create.
Contact | Follow Website: www.abiquiunest.com Email: abiquiunest@gmail.com
Instagram: @tamarakayjewelry
Phone: 520-289-0656
HILARY LORENZ, MA, MS, MFA Large-scale Printed and Cut Paper Installations
Personal Gallery/Studio StonetriggerPress. Gallery visits are by appointment only.
Artist Biography In the fall of 2021, Hilary Lorenz left her home in NYC and moved to rural New Mexico to create ambitious projects that draw from her experience and infatuation with frontier living. Lorenz is a multi-disciplinary artist specializing in large-scale printed and cut paper installations. Her work in paper, wood, and mixed media revolve around her physical exploration and relationship with the natural world. Her artwork has been reviewed in NY Times, LA Times, Art in America, and Art on Paper. She received her MA and MFA from the University of Iowa in Printmaking and Intermedia. Her residencies and awards include TIDES Institute, Maine; LMCC Governors Island, NY; Yukon Arts Centre Chilkoot Trail Residency, Parks Canada; LMCC Process Space, Governors Island, NY; National Seashore C-Scape Residency, Cape Cod, MA; ARTS Tasmania, Australia; Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY. Lorenz is a Fulbright Scholar and NEA Mid-Atlantic Fellow; her artwork has been reviewed in NY Times, LA Times, Art in America, and Art on Paper. When Hilary is not working in her studio, you can find her running in the mountains with her dogs or serving as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. Exhibitions and Galleries Lorenz is internationally exhibited, including Denver Botanic Garden, CO; Bundaberg and Gympie Regional Galleries, Australia; Sunbury Shores Art Center, New Brunswick, Canada; Wave Hill, Bronx, NY; 516Arts, Albuquerque, NM; Bridge Park Commission, Brooklyn, NY; Scuola Internazionale di Grafica, Venezia, Italia, Atelier Lacourière et Frélaut, Paris, France; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan. Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan among others. Contact | Follow Website: http://hilarylorenz.com and http://mothmigrationproject.net Instagram: @StonetriggerPress Email: hilary@hilarylorenz.com
RON MILHOAN Painter
Personal Gallery/Studio Gallery is located inside Cafe Sierra Negra in the village of Abiquiú. Gallery is open during Cafe open hours.
Artist Statement My drawings are a direct representation of where I am at the time. I carry a sketchbook most days and enjoy the immediacy. My paintings come out of this same process. I use color to express luminosity, and abstract patterns to camouflage the narrative. This ambiguity creates the mystery.
When creating my constructions I start working with recycled materials from my own paintings and drawings and from randomly collected objects, both natural and manmade. When juxtaposition occurs and an image and narrative appear I continue to work until it has meaning from fragmented memories. I find the process of making the constructions more tangible and playful, freeing me, by eliminating preconceived ideas it opens the possibilities of new discovery.
Contact | Follow Website: https://ronmilhoan.com Instagram: @ronmilhoan Email: ronmelmilhoan@gmail.com
LISA NEIMETH Ceramics
Personal Gallery/Studio Lisa Neimeth Ceramics, located behind Bodes General Store. Open by appointment only.
Artist Statement Everything inspires me. I am constantly taking note of colors in nature, food, magazines, newspapers, fashion, street art and graffiti and love seeing colors put together unexpectedly. Travel has been a big influence on my work as it heightens observation skills and offers opportunities to experience things in new ways. I have traveled extensively to Mexico, Central and South America, infusing my vision with the collecting of folk art, perusing ancient indigenous sites and wonderful age old traditions of pottery. I also spend a lot of time in the American Southwest where the tradition of pottery and combining function and design has survived thousands of years and has greatly inspired my approach to clay. I take lots of photos when I travel. They could be of color combinations, or scenarios that are juxtaposed in a way to either amuse or encourage further observation. I like to think about my plates as little tableaus to capture these recorded and observed images. Also, just living in an urban environment, I get to travel a little bit each day to new neighborhoods with new people, sights, smells and images. I bank these images which often wind up on a plate. I have always been a collector—flea markets, the beach, the woods, the street, second hand shops, the desert—basically I am always on alert to pick up an object anywhere. The vintage objects I use a lot include broken off pieces from old tourist toys that one may have purchased early in the 20th century in Mexico: an old plaster bird or just an arm from a doll. I love to use old figurines. I also use a lot of found natural objects—textured branches, pods, berries, bones...I’ll press anything into a piece of clay.
I really make my work to be used, not just displayed or admired. The plates can inspire and tell a story so they are evocative in the traditional “art” sense—but are completely functional. I also love the notion of high-end craft and taking time to carefully make everyday items. It is the way things used to be made—by hand and with great care and craft. It encourages an appreciation of the everyday.
Exhibitions and Galleries Lisa Neimeth Ceramics are displayed and/or sold at Sundance catalog; DeYoung Museum (San Francisco); SilverOak Vineyards (Oakville, CA); Mollers Garden Center (Palm Desert, CA); The Gardener (Berkely and San Francisco, CA); Valerianne (Scottsdale); Sarabande Home (Albuquerque); Bodes (Abiquiú); Citywoods (Highland Park, IL); Zieben Mare (Franklin, MI); and Folly Home (Santa Barbara, CA).
Contact | Follow Website: www.lneimeth.com Instagram: @lisaneimethceramics Phone: 415-640-3999 Email: neimethceramics@gmail.com
FRANK SHELTON Painting and Sculpture
Personal Gallery/Studio Studio One Thirty Nine. Gallery visits are by appointment only. Artist Statement My process of working may best be described by paraphrasing a quote from the late Israeli artist, Moshe Kupferman. "...I first put in emotion and expression. Next, I cover it up. Then, I put in silence..." While the process and product are important to me, I feel both are dead without passion. It is the passion that sustains me as an artist and human being. Contact | Follow Website: franksheltonart.com Email: frankshelton998@gmail.com Instagram: @frankshelton_artist
BRIAN THOMAS Rock Art
Personal Gallery/Studio Workshop visits by appointment only. Artist Statement Rocks. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, let us know that, “Geologists have a saying – rocks remember.” Rocks are abundant. Often, they are in the way. In a pile, they are labor awaiting. They are in the way of your shovel, your spade, your car, your bike; they block your path and just make life more difficult. But, individually, they have a story to tell. They have been soaking in each ray of sunshine, each drop of water, every vibration and every sound for millions of years. Individually, they can be breathtaking to look at. By using them in my art, I can tell a story. A story about the beauty in differences. A story about choices, about struggles, about beauty, all from special rocks that were selected from the millions available to me. To take something that is stubbornly resistant and to help it tell a story —that is why I love working with rocks. Each rock can stand on its own, but combining it with others to form a larger meaning—that is my passion. How do I work with some of the hardest objects on our planet? Deliberately, slowly, and with great effort. Bringing Mother Nature into our homes is beneficial. Bringing eons of stories into our life helps us set our perspectives. You’ve been here for decades. They’ve been here forever. Exhibitions and Galleries Thomas' work is displayed in Abiquiu's luxury inn - The Grand Hacienda and is available for sale in the Hacienda's Mercado gift store.
Contact | Follow Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abiquiu.art/ Email: abiquiuartgallery@gmail.com
Instagram: @abiquiuartgallery
JIM WOODSON Painter
Personal Gallery/Studio Gallery on Abiquiú Lake is open by appointment only.
Artist Statement Memory images serve to identify, interpret, and supplement perception. No neat borderline separates a purely perceptional image-if such there is- from one completed by memory…-Rudolf Arnheim. These paintings draw inspiration from the high deserts of the southwest, mostly in Texas and New Mexico. These “outer” landscapes are modified by “inner ones”. The inner concerns are a dialogue with dreams, memories, thought fragments and streams of consciousness. By the contextual placement or overlay of inner and outer, I hope to convey my own thoughts about the nature of imagination: to achieve a sense of the imagination’s movement (tempo) against a relatively unchanging environment (duration). I’m interested in calling attention to the act of painting as well as to how one understands visual conventions by combining self-referential marks and forms with more traditional rendering. I hope that these juxtapositions enliven the surface and create an ambiguous space that causes the viewer to question his/her notions about perceptional space. I would like to provide the viewer choices that lie between dualities like cultural and natural, perspectival and encompassed, near and far, representational and abstract, mythic time and geologic time, movement and stillness, order and chaos. I want the landscapes to be understood as a “verb” rather than a “noun”.
Exhibitions and Galleries
Woodson's art is displayed in the Valley House Gallery and Sculpture Garden in Santa Fe, NM.
Contact | Follow Website: jimwoodsonart.com Email: jimwoodsonart@gmail.com
Instagram: @jimwoodsonart
Phone: 505 929-7489
ABIQUIÚ GALLERIES, SHOPS AND EXHIBITIONS
In addition to artists' private galleries, there are additional places to take in the Abiquiú Art Scene.
ABIQUIÚ DOME GALLERY The dome is the gallery of metal design artist, Connie B. Burkhart. In addition to Connie' art, other local artists are featured in this one-of-a-kind, earthen gallery space. The Dome is open seasonally on Saturdays and Sundays from 11am-4pm May-Oct, and weekdays by appointment (becca@abiquiudome.com)
BOSSHARD GALLERY AND HISTORIC MERCANTILE John Bosshard has honored art, history and tribal cultures for over 35 years. His historic adobe compound in Abiquiú, New Mexico is a tranquil oasis overlooking the Chama River Valley, filled with hand selected treasures, from around the world and New Mexico.
The Bosshard Gallery features the very best art, antiques, and handcrafted furniture from around the world, plus an Old West Collection representing Pueblo pottery, Navajo weavings, jewelry, paintings and photographs.
Open Daily 10 AM - 5 PM. Located up the hill from the Bodes store, past the post office,
just off Hwy 84, and directly across from the O'Keeffe home and studio in Abiquiu.
Phone:(505) 685-0061 | Email: bosshard1@yahoo.com
Facebook / Instagram / You Tube: Bosshard Gallery
MERCADO Located within The Grand Hacienda Inn on Abiquiú Lake, the small mercado gift store includes pieces by local artist Debra Fritts and other southwest artists, as well as gift items. The Mercado also offers online shopping. If you are not staying at The Grand Hacienda, visits are by appointment only (thegrandhacienda@gmail.com). Open seasonally.
NEST SHOP AND SHOWROOM Nest is the gallery of jewelry artist, Tamara Kay, and also features works by other local artists. Plus, the shop is filled with beautiful objects and treats. Nest is open seasonally. Email - abiquiunest@gmail.com.
THE SHOP AND GALLERY Explore local art and jewelry in The Shop, while The Gallery features monthly art exhibitions and an outdoor sculpture exhibition. Located within the Abiquiú Inn on US-84.
ART TOURS
O'KEEFFE HOME AND STUDIO TOURS AND O'KEEFFE LANDSCAPE TOURS. In addition to artist visits, be sure to purchase tickets to tour Georgia O’Keeffe's home and studio in the village, or take a tour of the landscapes where she painted at Ghostranch. O'Keeffe first visited Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú in 1934 and decided that she needed to live right there amongst the red cliffs and colored rock formations. Many of her most famous paintings are landscapes inspired by the vistas that surrounded her. These tours sell out quickly so book your reservations in advance. The Home and Studio tour season runs from March to November, while Ghostranch tours are available year-round.
ABIQUIÚ STUDIO TOUR. And, you won't want to miss the annual Abiquiú Studio Tour, where artists open their studios for visits. Always over Indigenous People's Day weekend (second weekend of October), the tour is a self-guided, driving tour that takes visitors and collectors through the village of Abiquiú and the surrounding area where you can visit many studios and galleries and talk to the artists.
PLANNING YOUR TRIP | WHERE TO STAY
THE GRAND HACIENDA INN. If you are looking for a luxury lodging option in the middle of O'Keeffe territory, check out The Grand Hacienda Inn with breakfast on Abiquiú Lake. With only three suites and a culinary experience, your stay here may just be the highlight of your vacation. 575-425-0663. thegrandhacienda@gmail.com | thegrandhacienda.com
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