Chasing Santa Fe: AMERIND MUSEUM, RESEARCH CENTER AND ART GALLERY

The distance between Tucson and Dragoon, Arizona is a mere 63 miles, but if you've never driven through the Little Dragoon Mountains and visited the dramatic landscape of The Texas Canyon, you're in for a visual/otherworldly treat. Giant, 55 million-year-old, naturally-weathered rock formations stand tall and perfectly balanced as if a Paul Bunyon'esque sculptor honed and carved his way through tons of quartz manzonite - leaving his 'unsigned' artwork for all to admire.

Stephen Ogle photo

And tucked into this wondrous rock theater is the equally enthralling - AMERIND MUSEUM, RESEARCH CENTER AND ART GALLERY, a non-profit repository of a world-class private collection of Native American art and artifacts from the entire western hemisphere.

Founded in 1937 by William Shirley Fulton and Rose Hayden Fulton to preserve the works of Native American people and the fine art of the American West, the Amerind devoted its' first 50 years to archaeological research, excavation, analysis, and publication. Today, the Museum and the Art Gallery take center stage, and the public is invited to visit and wander the impressive collections.

Executive Director, Dr. Christine R. Szuter gave me a private tour and a wonderful peek into the Amerind's library, study storage collection and the Fulton's original home - a rare and delightful treat.

THE MUSEUM

Photo courtesy of Arizona Daily Star - A. Z. Araiza

Donated by a member

This wonderful basket was discovered in a shallow cave in 1910 and is attributed to the Chiricahua Apache who lived in the canyon where it was found.

This 3-foot tall basket was made for sale by a Western Apache artist and purchased at a store that sold Native American Arts & Crafts; it's illustrated with an impressive 175 figures and made of

willow, devil's claw and yucca root.

After visiting the first floor gallery, Christine took me down to study storage where hundreds of Native American arts and crafts are waiting to be cataloged and studied before wending their way into exhibits. There was so much to see that I can only share a few photographs.

And a gorgeous desk caught my eye...

Just behind the Museum is the Fulton's original home. What a delight to walk through and

capture with my lens...This lovely space is now used for board meetings, seminars

and visiting scholars.

Then we walked over to the...

FULTON-HAYDEN MEMORIAL ART GALLERY

a showcase for exhibiting contemporary indigenous artists and other contemporary artists of the American West, in addition to showing works from the permanent collection.

Before stepping inside I had some camera fun...

Upstairs was a fun exhibit by Chippewa Artist Daniel Ramirez...

And then Christine showed me the

FULTON-HAYDEN MEMORIAL LIBRARY

a repository of an impressive 22,000 volume collection of books and professional journals, as well as extensive information on the Amerind's ethnographic object collection. Amerind Foundation members and visiting researchers can make an appointment to use the library's resources.