millicentroger

While preparing for our current Santa Fe Indian School Style exhibit, I came across the original drawings for the painted vigas in Turtle Walk, Millicent Rogers' home in Taos. According to our collections records, the design on the left was painted by Amalio Dominquez from Santa Domingo Pueblo and was purchased by Millicent Rogers in 1952.  Dorothy Brett, the British artist and close friend of Rogers, helped paint the design on the vigas in the library of Turtle Walk, and she also painted a lovely portrait of her dear friend that you can view in our Millicent as Visionary exhibition.

We also have the original design for some of the vigas near the home's garage that is signed by H. Garcia and was also purchased by Rogers in 1952.   Both of the designs were gifted to the museum by Rogers' youngest son, Paul Peralta-Ramos, when he founded the MRM in 1956.  Arturo Peralta-Ramos, Rogers' middle son, lived in Turtle Walk for many years, and although the property is not associated with the museum, it is still owned by the Rogers family.  Sascha Peralta-Ramos, Arturo's granddaughter and Millicent's great-granddaughter, was recently featured in an article in the New York Times for her Mary Millicent jewelry line.  Her pieces are inspired by Rogers' own jewelry designs and can be purchased through the MRM Store.  Sascha was photographed for the article at Turtle Walk and you can read more about her work and see the entire photo shoot here. Christina Peralta-Ramos, Paul's daughter and granddaughter of Millicent Rogers, was also recently photographed at Turtle Walk and made a generous donation to the museum's aptly named annual fundraising Turquoise Gala of a turquoise Zuni ring once owned by her grandmother.  The proceeds from the sale of the ring will, in part, help fund future exhibitions at the museum and help us continue to care for our amazing collection of over 7,000 works of art from the Southwest.

Many of the paintings at Turtle Walk were completed by Rogers' artist friends from Taos Pueblo, and the scene behind Christina is modeled after Prairie Fire, a painting by Blackbear Bosin that was featured in the Philbrook Indian Annual as well as in a National Geographic article from the 1950s on Indian painting that was written by Dorothy Dunn.  Dunn taught many of the students featured in our Santa Fe Indian School Style exhibit. In addition to the beautiful turquoise ring, we will also be offering several paintings by Santa Fe Indian School-trained artists at our Turquoise Gala that were donated to us by the Frank Waters estate.  We are honored to be a part of such a rich history and to have a unique collection that connects the diverse history of the Southwest with icons like Millicent Rogers.  To learn more about the museum's history, the Rogers family, our Turquoise Gala, and the Santa Fe Indian School, visit our website or, better yet, visit the museum!