So far, Santa Fe has been the place where I learned the most facts about the place after I got there. I know that doesn't sound terribly momentous, but give me a second.
I went knowing about the hills and the heat, the mountains and the cacti. I knew that I wanted to see the Georgia O Keefe Museum and the Navajo jewelry. What I did not know is that Santa Fe, and New Mexico in general is home to a truly intriguing mix of people. There are the "natives" which can mean Native American, or descendant of the original Spanish settlers, and then there are the transplants - East Coasters looking for something more artistic and rural, but most notably, the senior community.
I went gallery hopping on Friday and found that I lowered the average age significantly. Apparently Santa Fe attracts a large senior population looking for a nice, breezy balmy place to retire. This does create some interesting socioeconomic circumstances, where the transplants move in and start pricing out many of the poorer locals. Politics are also apparently, still heavily influenced by members of the "mob" - patriarchs descended from Spanish settlers.
I also did not realize how close I am to the lab that built the A-bomb. There is a large population in Santa Fe who works there as well. I met a gentleman in shul who worked there, but didn't not want to comment further on his experiences "blowing things up" in the Navada desert. So I left it at that.
After the gallery hoppage on Friday, I went to the Georgia O Keefe Museum. The art was brilliant, but they also had a great movie about her life that included her letters and video interviews with the artist herself. She spoke a lot about the spiritual draw she felt to be in Santa Fe and the almost religious experience it was for her to paint the natural world around her. One of the striking things they portrayed in their photography exhibit, was the metamorphosis of OKeefe from the 20 year old that Steigletz photographed, into the desert hardened woman she became later in life.
Thats all I've got for now. Shavua tov.
No comments:
Post a Comment