A week-long trip to Santa Fe and Taos was planned by the Wildling Art Museum, April 17-23, 2006. The tour introduced participants to the rich culture of Northern New Mexico, its historic art and architecture and contemporary gallery scene. It was led by the Wildling Art Museum’s Executive Director, Penny Knowles, and her artist husband, Joseph.

The group spent four nights in Santa Fe and two in Taos, staying in Pueblo Revival style hotels, beautifully appointed and centrally located, and ate in restaurants featuring the finest Southwestern cuisine. In the company of a Pueblo Indian guide, the tour visited the studio compound of one of the best Native American sculptors, Allan Houser, the two houses which Georgia O’Keeffe called home, the Ghost Ranch and the adobe at Abiquiu, as well as the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. In Santa Fe, tour participants had private entry to some of the best galleries of modern and contemporary art, including Gerald Peters, Nedra Matteucci, Zaplin-Lampert, and Owings-Dewey, and had guided tours of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of International Folk Art (the famous Gerard Collection), and the Museum of Indian Arts. A cocktail party at a private house in Santa Fe, a visit to an artist’s studio and to a famous private collection of folk art were also on the itinerary.

In Taos, the Wildling Art Museum group visited the original Pueblo, inhabited for over 1000 years, the Millicent Rogers Museum, the Harwood Museum, the famous house of Mabel Lodge Luhan, and the Hacienda de los Martinez, an authentic New Mexico style, late Spanish Colonial period house. The final evening included a private tour and dinner in the Fechin House, which is the home of the Taos Art Museum.

The trip package included round trip air transportation from Santa Barbara, six nights in luxury class hotels, all breakfasts, six lunches, four dinners, deluxe mini-coach transportation, baggage transport, and all taxes and tips.