Events

There’s always something exciting happening at the Museum of International Folk Art! Join us for our many programs listed below.

NM Resident FREE Sunday
Family

NM Resident FREE Sunday

November 6, 2022
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM

New Mexico residents admitted FREE on the first Sunday of each month. Youth 16 and under and Museum of New Mexico Foundation members are always free. We are open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Come explore our engaging exhibits!

About the Museum of International Folk Art: http://www.internationalfolkart.org

706 Camino Lejo, on Museum Hill in Santa Fe, NM 87505. (505) 476-1200.

Founded in 1953 by Florence Dibell Bartlett, the Museum of International Folk Art’s mission is to foster understanding of the traditional arts to illuminate human creativity and shape a humane world. The museum holds the world’s largest international folk art collection of more than 150,000 objects from six continents and over 150 nations, representing a broad range of global artists whose artistic expressions make Santa Fe an international crossroads of culture. For many visitors, fascination with folk art begins upon seeing the whimsical toys and traditional objects within the Girard Collection. For others, the international textiles, ceramics, carvings and other cultural treasures in the Neutrogena Collection provide the allure.  The museum’s historic and contemporary Latino and Hispano folk art collections, spanning the Spanish Colonial period to modern-day New Mexico, reflect how artists respond to their time and place in ways both delightful and sobering. In 2010, the museum opened the Mark Naylor and Dale Gunn Gallery of Conscience, where exhibitions encourage visitors to exchange ideas on complex issues of human rights and social justice.

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The Magic of Mexico: The Joys, Celebrations and Rituals of Daily Life
Friends of Folk Art (FOFA)

The Magic of Mexico: The Joys, Celebrations and Rituals of Daily Life

November 13, 2022
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

The Friends of Folk Art will have a travel photography slide presentation and lecture with David Saxe in the Vernick Auditorium. The photographs were made over several years during the events and activities surrounding the annual Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Guadalupe from Puebla to Mexico City, and local celebrations in smaller villages in the Sierra Norte. Although not entirely about the “Pilgrimage”, the photographs serve as a stepping stone to document the culture, rituals, magic, and daily life of the Mexican people. This will not be an anthropology lecture; it will be more about the process of making good photographs—by getting closer to your subject and sharing their experiences. Guadalupe only serves as a starting point in getting there.

Doors open at 2 pm and reception will follow.  Masks are preferred.

Registration is free for FOFA Members.  All participants must be current Friends of Folk Art (FOFA) members.  To join, please go to: https://www.museumfoundation.org/friends/friends-of-folk-art/

David Saxe: was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1943 and studied fine art at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts in Montreal.  David studied with the renowned Canadian photographer John Max for 4 years and has participated in several group and solo exhibitions in Canada, before he moved to the United States in 1992. Since 2017, he has resided in Santa Fe, NM. His photographs have been exhibited at galleries in Toronto, Los Angeles, NYC, Paris, Brescia and here in Santa Fe in group shows at “The Fence”, and Editions One Gallery. David has also had his photos published in many prominent photography journals in the US and Europe.

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Woven: Traditional Swedish Hair Jewelry

Woven: Traditional Swedish Hair Jewelry

November 20, 2022
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Join us for a public talk with hair weaver, artist and teacher,  Karen Keenan.

FREE with museum admission.  To request ASL interpretation, please contact patricia.sigala@state.nm.us by November 10.

in 2018, supported by the American Scandinavian Foundation, Karen traveled to Våmhus, home of her ancestors. There she learned how to make table-made hair jewelry from Joanna Svensson, a master hairworker. In October 2019, the Nordic Center in Duluth, MN featured a hair jewelry exhibition curated by Karen. She began teaching hair jewelry making, first at the Nordic Center and then at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. 

As a child, Karen was interested in her mother’s hair brooch from Våmhus, Sweden. Years later, with many needlework projects under her belt, Karen read about the tradition of Swedish women entrepreneurs in the 1800s who traveled from their homes in Sweden to major European urban areas to make hair jewelry for others. At the time, Karen was unaware of where this growing curiosity in hairwork would lead. Then, in 2018, supported by a Reviving Folk Arts in the Midwest Fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation, Karen traveled to Våmhus, home of her ancestors. There she learned how to make table-made hair jewelry from Joanna Svensson, a master hairworker. In October 2019, the Nordic Center in Duluth, MN featured a hair jewelry exhibition curated by Karen. She began teaching hair jewelry making, first at the Nordic Center and then at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. Karen continues to offer classes a North House Folk School and is working with curators at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, MN, in preparation for teaching a bracelet course there in January 2023. Stilll fascinated with traditional and contemporary hairwork, Karen appreciates her husband’s support by making hairwork tables and weights and is eager to share what she knows with others.

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Hair Weaving Workshop with Karen Keenan
Workshop

Hair Weaving Workshop with Karen Keenan

November 20, 2022
2:30 PM - 4:30 PM

Scandianavian hair weaving expert, teacher & scholar Karen Keenan presents a 2 hour workshop on the  Gimping Technique.

 One of 4 traditional sentimental era hairwork techniques, gimping was widely used to create handcrafted items such as brooches, gift cards, and for home adornments such as framed and hung hair wreaths. It and other hairwork techniques became less commonly made after the early 1900’s. Class participants will learn this technique by making multiple gimped strands with synthetic hair and wire. Shaped strands will then be attached to a card to keep or give to a friend or loved one.

To register for the free workshop email: leslie.fagre@state.nm.us

The workshop is restricted to 12 participants, but there will also be a waiting list if necessary.

In 2018, Karen received  a Reviving Folk Arts in the Midwest Fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation, to travel to Våmhus, home of her ancestors. There she learned how to make table-made hair jewelry from Joanna Svensson, a master hairworker. In October 2019, the Nordic Center in Duluth, MN featured a hair jewelry exhibition curated by Karen. She began teaching hair jewelry making, first at the Nordic Center and then at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN. 

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MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA
Family

MAKE & TAKE @ MOIFA

November 27, 2022
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Join us for art in the atrium on Sundays with art projects, coloring sheets, and self-guided treasure hunts. Add to your explorations at MOIFA with fun collection-inspired bilingual art kits, facilitated by our fantastic MOIFA docents. Our projects are always changing with changing gallery treasure hunts for the whole family.

This month’s themes: Sunday, November 27th - Tramp Art, Make a Notched Paper Frame!

Museum admission is always free for Kids and Members, program included with admission.

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