Taos is a town in Taos County, in the north-central region of New Mexico in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Initially founded in 1615, it was intermittently occupied until its formal establishment in 1795 by Nuevo México Governor Fernando Chacón to act as fortified plaza and trading outpost for the neighboring Native American Taos Pueblo and Hispano communities, including Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, El Prado, and Arroyo Seco. The town was incorporated in 1934. As of the 2021, its population was 6,567.
The Taos art colony was an art colony founded in Taos, New Mexico, by artists attracted by the culture of the Taos Pueblo and northern New Mexico. The history of Hispanic craftsmanship in furniture, tin work, and other mediums also played a role in creating a multicultural tradition of art in the area.
Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission-driven planned communities, which administer a formal process for awarding artist residencies. A typical mission might include providing artists with the time, space, and support to create, fostering community among artists, and providing arts education, including lectures and workshops.
The Zuni are Native American Pueblo peoples native to the Zuni River valley. The Zuni people today are federally recognized as the Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico, and most live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico, United States. The Pueblo of Zuni is 55 km (34 mi) south of Gallup, New Mexico. The Zuni tribe lived in multi level adobe houses. In addition to the reservation, the tribe owns trust lands in Catron County, New Mexico, and Apache County, Arizona. The Zuni call their homeland Halona Idiwan’a or Middle Place. The word Zuni is believed to derive from the Western Keres language (Acoma) word sɨ̂‧ni, or a cognate thereof.
Robert Chesley was a playwright, theater critic and musical composer.
Lavonne J. Adams is a published poet and writer living in Durham, North Carolina. Adams grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, but has lived in North Carolina for over 30 years. Adams taught and was the MFA Coordinator in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
The Millicent Rogers Museum is an art museum in Taos, New Mexico, founded in 1956 by the family of Millicent Rogers. Initially the artworks were from the multi-cultural collections of Millicent Rogers and her mother, Mary B. Rogers, who donated many of the first pieces of Taos Pueblo art. In the 1980s, the museum was the first cultural organization in New Mexico to offer a comprehensive collection of Hispanic art.
The Harwood Museum of Art is located in Taos, New Mexico. Founded in 1923 by the Harwood Foundation, it is the second oldest art museum in New Mexico. Its collections include a wide range of Hispanic works and visual arts from the Taos Society of Artists, Taos Moderns, and contemporary artists. In 1935 the museum was purchased by the University of New Mexico. Since then the property has been expanded to include an auditorium, library and additional exhibition space.
Art of the American Southwest is the visual arts of the Southwestern United States. This region encompasses Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of California, Colorado, Nevada, Texas, and Utah. These arts include architecture, ceramics, drawing, filmmaking, painting, photography, sculpture, printmaking, and other media, ranging from the ancient past to the contemporary arts of the present day.
Dora Deborah Kaminsky (1909–1977) was an American artist.
Rebecca Salsbury James (1891–1968) was a self-taught American painter, born in London, England of American parents who were traveling with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. She settled in New York City, where she married photographer Paul Strand. Following her divorce from Strand, James moved to Taos, New Mexico where she fell in with a group that included Mabel Dodge Luhan, Dorothy Brett, and Frieda Lawrence. In 1937 she married William James, a businessman from Denver, Colorado who was then operating the Kit Carson Trading Company in Taos. She remained in Taos until her death in 1968.
Robert Ray was an American artist, active in the middle to late twentieth century.
Marilyn Gayle Hoff, also known as Marilyn Gayle, is an American author, songwriter, teacher, and activist. Her writing includes the novels Dink's Blues, Rose, and Free Ride, as well as the co-authored book Bring Out Your Own Book: Low Cost Self-Publishing.
Juanita Jaramillo Lavadie is a contemporary weaver, textile scholar and muralist based in New Mexico. Her art is centered on the acequia system in Taos County, Northern, New Mexico and is influenced by traditional Hispano and Indigenous cultures. Her work primarily focuses on water rights in Taos County.
Olivia Romo is an American poet, spoken word artist, and water rights activist from Taos, New Mexico. Her work centers on the cultural significance of water within Northern New Mexico's agricultural communities, particularly focusing on the acequia irrigation system. Romo's upbringing in a family that valued land, culture, and history deeply influenced her creative journey. With a dual degree in English and Chicana and Chicano Studies from the University of New Mexico, she is well-equipped to blend her artistic expression with social advocacy.
Helene Valeska Billing Wurlitzer (1874–1963) was notable for her philanthropy in the arts in both Ohio and New Mexico. Helene was born in Salt Lake City to German immigrant Gustav Billing (1840-1890) and Henriette Schneider Billing (1849-1939), a Cincinnati physician’s daughter. Helene’s parents were in Utah establishing a mining smelter funded by Ohio investors. She was the first of two children; her sister being born in 1888.
Lynnette Haozous a Native American painter, printmaker, jeweler, writer, and actor. She is an enrolled member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe and of Chiricahua Apache, Navajo, and Taos Pueblo ancestry. Haozous works in acrylics, watercolors, spray paint, jewelry, screen-printing, writing, and acting on stage and in film. She is known for her murals and uses a blend of art and advocacy to bring attention to social conditions and injustices.
Percy Tsisete Sandy, was a Zuni artist. His native name was Kai-Sa ; he is also known as Percy Sandy Tsisete. His paintings were signed with the name Kai-Sa.
Earl Stroh (1924-2005) was an American artist who was affiliated with the Taos Moderns group of painters.
DeAnna Autumn Leaf Suazo (1992–2021) was an American painter from New Mexico.
