Acequia Madre House is a house built at 614 Acequia Madre in Santa Fe, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

, in 1926 in the Territorial Revival style. Built by

Eva Scott Fényes Eva Scott Fényes (1849-1930) was an American painter known for watercolor landscape of the American west. She was also known for her philanthropic activities. Biography Fényes was born on November 9, 1849, in New York City as the only child o ...

(1849–1930), her daughter Leonora Scott Muse Curtin (1879–1972), and her granddaughter Leonora Frances Curtin Paloheimo (1903–1999), it today houses their legacy in the form of vast collections, spanning more than 150 years of family history, including about 4,000 objects, 12,000 photographs, 700 boxes of archival material, and a historic library of 5,000 books. The property was bought in 1922. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1988 as one of 106

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

in the

Camino del Monte Sol Historic District The Camino del Monte Sol Historic District, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a historic district which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The listing included 106 contributing buildings. It includes some works by archit ...

. With

Collections

The object collections consist of several hundred paintings and prints. Eva Scott Fényes, as well as her granddaughter Leonora Frances Curtin Paloheimo, were watercolor artists. Eva collected self-portraits by artists and organized them into two albums. She kept close friendships with many artists from New Mexico and California, where she had her second home in Pasadena. Works by

Awa Tsireh Awa Tsireh (February 1, 1898 – March 30, 1955), also known as Alfonso Roybal and Cattail Bird, was a San Ildefonso Pueblo painter and artist in several genres including metalwork. He was part of the art movement known as the San Ildefons ...

Julian Martinez Julián Martínez, also known as Pocano (1879–1943), was a San Ildefonso Pueblo potter,"Julian ...

, Muhammad Ben Ali Ribati, Sheldon Orin Parsons, Gerald Cassidy,

Gustave Baumann Gustave Baumann (June 27, 1881 – October 8, 1971) was an American printmaker and painter, and one of the leading figures of the color woodcut revival in America. His works have been shown at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, The C ...

, Benjamin Brown,

Howell Chambers Brown Howell Chambers Brown (1880–1954) American artist and printmaker, known for engraving and etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in ...

, and many others can be found here. The extensive and worldwide pottery collection contains works by

Maria Martinez Maria Montoya Martinez (1887, San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980, San Ildefonso Pueblo) was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. Martinez (born Maria Poveka Montoya), her husband Julian, and ot ...

Margaret Tafoya Maria Margarita "Margaret" Tafoya ( Tewa name: Corn Blossom; August 13, 1904 – February 25, 2001) was the matriarch of Santa Clara Pueblo potters. She was a recipient of a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for ...

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

, and sculptor Frank Applegate. Another focus lies on traditional arts and crafts from New Mexico. To support local traditions, the family helped found the Spanish Colonial Arts Society in 1925 and Leonora Frances Curtin Paloheimo founded the Native Market on West Palace Avenue in Santa Fe, with branches in Tucson and New York, in 1934. Extensive collections from their travels around the world were partly used to inspire local New Mexican arts and crafts. The Native Market archive is kept as part of the archives at Acequia Madre House. The collections also reflect the existing networks within Santa Fe and are the result of exchange between artists, collectors, and institutions. Several objects were bought from or exchanged with the

Museum of New Mexico The Museum of New Mexico is a collection of museums, historic sites, and archaeological services governed by the State of New Mexico. It currently consists of six divisions : the Palace of the Governors state history museum, the New Mexico Museum of ...

Margretta Dietrich Margretta Dietrich was an American suffragette and activist. She served as resident of the Nebraska Woman's Suffrage Association in 1919 and Chairman of the Nebraska State League of Women Voters in 1920. Following the ratification of the 19th am ...

Dorothy Dunn Dorothy Dunn Kramer (December 2, 1903 – July 5, 1992) was an American art instructor who created The Studio School at the Santa Fe Indian School. Background Dunn was born on 2 December 1903 in Pottawatomie County, Kansas and educated in Chi ...

Olive Rush Olive Rush (June 10, 1873 near Fairmount, Indiana – August 20, 1966 in Santa Fe, New Mexico) was a painter, illustrator, muralist, and an important pioneer in Native American art education. Her paintings are held in a number of private colle ...

, and several others. More than 6,000 photographs are available online in the New Mexican Digital Collections of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. Acequia Madre House is also home of the

Women's International Study Center A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

, founded in 2013. Participants in the fellowship program are encouraged to explore the collections and use them for research. Collections and archives are open by appointment. The building and collections are owned by

El Rancho de las Golondrinas El Rancho de las Golondrinas (The Ranch of the Swallows), a historic ''rancho'' and now a living history museum, is strategically located on what was once the ''Camino Real'', the Royal Road that extended from Mexico City to Santa Fe. The ranch ...

Garden

The garden at Acequia Madre House consists of a landscape garden with fruit trees, an herb garden and lawn opposite the main entrance to the house, and a flower garden on one side of the house. In 2022, a metal sculpture by

George Rodrigue George Rodrigue (March 13, 1944 – December 14, 2013) was an American artist who in the late 1960s began painting Louisiana landscapes, followed soon after by outdoor family gatherings and southwest Louisiana 19th-century and early 20th-centu ...

was added to the landscape garden. ''Colors of My Mind'' dates from 2008 and shows Rodrigue's iconic blue dog.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Santa Fe, New Mexico Museums in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territorial Style __FORCETOC__

Collections

Garden

See also

References