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The West as Home: Collective Impact of the Taos Society of Artists

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Title

The West as Home: Collective Impact of the Taos Society of Artists

Description

In 1915, six painters from around the United States formed the Taos Society of Artists in Taos, New Mexico, USA. They had a shared vision: to create a uniquely American art style with an express goal of preserving the native arts they found in their new home.

They also found a verdant valley with varied topography, from the depths of the Rio Grande gorge to the heights of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. More important, they found a culturally diverse community, with the Native people of Taos Pueblo, the Hispano descendants of Spanish colonizers, and the more recent Anglo settlers. They also discovered the magic Taos light, unmatched in its clarity and depth.

These painters also benefitted from and appreciated the openness found to outside cultures. Taos was a center of trade, long before the Spanish arrival in the early 1600s. Besides the commercial trade, there was an exchange of ideas, fertile ground for artists. This is the home they found in Taos.

By pooling their skills and resources, what (eventually) twelve men and women achieved together far outweighs their significance as individual artists. The TSA opened the door for all the artists that followed and created a model of what a determined, competitive, highly talented group with a shared vision could accomplish.

Relation

Collection

Couse-Sharp Historic Site Video Series

Citation

“The West as Home: Collective Impact of the Taos Society of Artists,” Lunder Research Center, accessed February 3, 2023, https://lunderresearchcenter.omeka.net/items/show/699.

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