Table Magazine Modernism

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Modernists were interested in the present, rooted in real things and real people, but had an eye to the future. An optimistic movement with both local and global impact, one that should not see modernism as singular (with a capital M) but as an inclusive plurality. As a global movement, emerging modernisms were concerned with understanding place and the world. In the United States, modernism held a particularly invigorating promise for jewelry. Modern jewelers freed themselves from the constraints of conventions around preciousness and emphasized craftsmanship. They redefined jewelry as a skilled experiment in aesthetics, forms and techniques.

This verve can be seen in the dazzling work that emerged from the hands and imaginations of Native jewelers from the 1940s onwards. This marks a moment when Native jewelry worked in boutique jewelry shops and family concerns which opened in a variety of locations including cities such as Tucson, Scottsdale, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe.

 

NY Times Permanent Collection and Highlight

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Squash blossom necklaces have a balanced composition, and they require great skill and artistry to execute, according to Henrietta Lidchi, the executive director of the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe and the author of “Surviving Desires: Making and Selling Native Jewellery in the American Southwest.”

“I think one of the impressive things about squash blossom necklaces, in addition to the aesthetics, is how much work they take to make,” Dr. Lidchi said during an interview at the museum, adding that the dimensions of each repeated element must be precise and in proportion.

The style was created in the late 19th century by Diné (Navajo) silversmiths, said Dr. Lidchi, who has a Ph.D. in anthropology and cultural studies. While some details point to Spanish influences — some scholars have linked the naja to bridle decorations and the squash blossom beads to clothing adornments shaped like pomegranates — they translated them into something new, she said.

 

NY Times & Once Within A Time at the Wheelwright

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Inside the museum’s hogan-shaped space, the artist Nora Naranjo Morse (Kha’p’oe Owingeh) put the finishing touches on “Into the Forever,” a giant sculpture extending upward to the roof, fashioned from “society’s discards,” she put it, including burlap chile sacks.

The Peruvian artist Cristina Flores Pescorán creates work that promotes healing, an effort to reclaim her body after a rare blood cancer that affected skin pigmentation. She crafted 38 wall elements, mirroring her 38-page medical report, from diaphanous Peruvian cotton and copper netting — proof that unexpected beauty can be born from adversity.

 

Wheelwright Museum Receives Major Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

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Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Grant to Fund New Exhibition on Native American Art in the Wake of the Vietnam War at the Wheelwright Museum
The Museum is the only NM recipient of this grant this cycle; new major exhibit is to open in 2026.

SANTA FE, NM, (July 2025) The Wheelwright Museum was awarded $60,000 from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in support of a major temporary exhibition focusing on the intersection of activism, creativity, and the effects of military service in the Native American art community in the wake of the Vietnam War. The Foundation’s Spring 2025 Grant Recipients include 51 arts organizations and museums from 25 states across the country who will receive over $4 million to support the visual arts. The Wheelwright Museum is the only New Mexico-based organization to receive support this cycle.

Outburst: Native American Art After Vietnam will open late 2026 and continue into 2027. The exhibit will feature sixty works exploring activism, creativity, and the effects of military service on Native American artists and their creative output.

At its core, Outburst asks a provocative question: Can we accurately interpret the popularity and impact of contemporary Native American art from the 1970s without acknowledging the experiences of Native American veteran artists returning from the Vietnam War? Art provided a fertile avenue for expression and recovery from trauma. The Museum is honored to be able to further fund this group exhibition conceived as an urgent act of recollection. “We are delighted with, and honored by, the strong support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts for this important exhibition,” says Wheelwright Museum director Henrietta Lidchi. “Outburst expresses the Wheelwright Museum’s intention to highlight Native voices and perspectives, focusing on a turbulent period in recent Native American art history and to think through the enduring legacies of this time of political ferment and creativity.”

The influence of the Vietnam War on Native Art presents a multifaceted picture with the war subject to revisionism, even during the conflict, due to the human cost on all sides. Rather than being drafted, ninety percent of young Native Americans who served did so voluntarily. During the Vietnam War, Native Americans were disproportionately represented among the military: more than 43,000 served; with one in four eligible Native individuals compared to one in twelve of the general US population. Despite their presence and the strength of their contributions, very little of the extensive literature that has developed around the Vietnam War focuses on the experiences, perspectives, or testimonies of Native veterans.

ABOUT THE WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM
The Wheelwright Museum is New Mexico’s oldest independent non-profit museum. Founded in 1937 by Mary Wheelwright and Navajo singer Hastiin Klah, the Museum presents exhibitions of contemporary and iconic Native American art. The Museum is also home to the Jim and Lauris Phillips Center for the Study of Southwestern Jewelry, which contains a comprehensive collection of Navajo and Pueblo jewelry of all eras. For more than eight decades, the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian has honored Native voices through art
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ABOUT THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS
Following Andy Warhol’s will, the mission of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts is the advancement of the visual arts. The foundation manages an innovative and dynamic grants program while also preserving Warhol’s legacy through creative and responsible licensing policies and extensive scholarly research for ongoing catalogue raisonné projects. To date, the foundation has given over $310 million in cash grants to over 1,000 arts organizations around the country and abroad and has donated 52,786 works of art to 322
institutions worldwide.

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704 Camino Lejo Santa Fe, NM 87505 wheelwright.org

 

 

The 12th SITE SANTA FE International runs through January 12, 2026 at more than a dozen prominent and little-explored locations across Santa Fe, NM.

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Peeking at Jewelry in the Wheelwright Museum Vault

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Charlotte Mittler

Mittler Family Foundation Makes $2M Gift to the Wheelwright Museum

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Mittler Family Foundation Makes $2M Gift to the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe, NM   

The gift will be used for a gallery remodel and is accompanied by the family collection of remarkable Cochiti figurative art. 

SANTA FE, NM, (Jan. 2025) Charlotte Mittler and the Mittler Family Foundation have donated their treasured collection of Cochiti Storytellers and Mono figurines to the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and have generously given a two million dollar gift to help the museum reconfigure its lower-level gallery. This is a transformative gift for the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, which will help the museum redesign the exhibition space on the lower level. This renovation will provide permanent space for the Cochiti figures and create a more engaging experience for museum guests. The Wheelwright is honored to curate a rotating exhibit of this work over the next ten to fifteen years, providing new opportunities for programming and events.  

Charlotte Mittler and her late husband Tom have been friends, board members, and supporters of the Wheelwright Museum for decades. They have participated in various past exhibitions, including lending their extensive collection of early Santa Fe Indian School art for the exhibit Through Their Eyes, curated by Dr. Michelle S. A. McGeough (Métis/Cree). It was through the Wheelwright exhibit Clay People (1998) that Tom became fascinated by the early, large Cochiti figures. Clay People sparked the couple’s interest in collecting many of the sculptures that are published in Clay Mirror (2020) and will be donated.  

Charlotte recalls, “One of my favorite projects was creating the book about our collection of figures, storytellers, and animals. We were able to speak with artists and their families about the figures and document the collection with their words and photos. Living with the figures feels like being surrounded by friends.” 

Getting to know the artists and their stories has been an essential part of collecting for the Mittlers. The art embodies the narrative of the maker, the narrative of the community, and the narrative of all those whom the work has impacted. Preserving these stories and experiences can now be continued by the Wheelwright. As Charlotte observes, “The Wheelwright has always been a special place for our family. It is my hope that more members of the Cochiti community will be able to engage with the figures and that the stories of the makers will be preserved as a crucial part of history.” 

Executive Director Dr. Henrietta Lidchi believes this gift strengthens the Wheelwright Museum’s vision of honoring Native voices through art. “These figures enhance our museum’s mission by conveying the power of Cochiti stories. We are humbled to participate in the stewardship of this collection that connects the Wheelwright Museum with the Mittler family and the Cochiti community.” 

 

 

Condé Nast Traveler “Ask a Local”

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Inside the Vault – Southwest Art Magazine

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Shonto Begay: ‘Art Saves Lives’

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