Your next visit to Santa Fe could be a thrilling new adventure to the artistic frontier. As someone who’s been fortunate enough to learn from some of Santa Fe’s legendary artisans, I can assure you there’s nothing more exhilarating than expressing yourself artistically with the help of a creative guru. All through March, you can ply your artistic skills under the tutelage of Santa Fe’s renowned artists. DIY Santa Fe: A Creative Tourism Journey — an initiative of Santa Fe Creative Tourism, the Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission — offers you the rarest of rare opportunities to create your own artworks under the guidance of more than 200 of Santa Fe’s finest artists.
Turn your inner artist into outward expression with expert, hands-on lessons.(All photos courtesy of Santa Fe Creative Tourism)
Lose Your Painting Inhibitions and Find Artistic Glory
Like many people (especially here in Santa Fe), I’ve been known to apply brush to canvas as a hobby. And like equally many people, I run into mental roadblocks again and again: “What should I paint?” “Can I make it look real enough?” “Who am I kidding?” Overcoming obstacles like these is of paramount importance to capturing your true creative expression. And that’s exactly what celebrated Santa Fe artist Julie Claire enables you to do in her Individual Intuitive Painting Sessions. You’ll throw caution (and inhibition) to the wind, using basic brushes and large-scale canvases to boldly trust your inner voice. Come alone or bring a friend to this three-hour session and get ready for artistic transformation.
Break through your artistic barriers with Individual Intuitive Painting Lessons.
Nothing Holds Families Together Like Clay
Ever rolled up your sleeves and sunk your hands into a wonderfully gooey blob of clay and made it come alive? Take it from me, it’s an incredibly liberating experience. Celebrated instructor Ginny Zipperer makes creating with clay a family bonding exercise with her Family Clay Play. Parents and kiddos of all ages can collaborate on murals or sculptures inside Ginny’s inspiring studio or beneath the shade trees in her backyard. At the end of the two-hour workshop, your family’s masterpiece emerges from the kiln and you take home the ultimate Santa Fe keepsake. Hey, the family that clays together stays together. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)
Everyone has a hand in creating a treasure with Family Clay Play.
Get Ready for Creativity Times Tin
Few things in life are as empowering as creating art from raw metal. You feel like such a primal force as you hew your personal artistic vision from a blank metallic slate. New Mexico’s legendary tinsmithing tradition dates back to the Mid-1800’s, when craftsmen created beautiful devotional pieces for Catholic churches. Chimayo’s own Sharon Candelario studied under New Mexico’s preeminent master tinsmiths, and now offers students hands-on Traditional Tin Smithing lessons for creating tin-edged decorative mirrors, picture frames, religious iconography, and more. I assure you, the process is a transcendent meditation. And the family-owned Medina Gallery, home to leading lights of the Santa Fe artistic scene, offers an ideal place to draw inspiration. Be sure to scope out the perfect wall space at home to display your newly created masterwork.
Renowned artist Sharon Candelario will free the tinsmith within you.
A Fusion of Art and Fashion? Sign Me Up!
Just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about Santa Fe’s legendary artistic community, you discover something downright awe inspiring. My latest discovery? The time-honored artistry of glass bead making. In a wondrous artists’ enclave known as “The Soho of Santa Fe,” several master glass workers collaborate, enabling students and visitors to experience several studios in one locale. This inspirational setting is home to Glass Bead Making with Donna Nova. Donna, who has been crafting glass beads in the old-world tradition for nearly 20 years, leads four-hour individualized classes where students create glass beads in the style of the grand Italian craftsmen. Imagine the looks on your friends’ faces back home when you reveal your personal bead creations.
Yes, these are glass beads! Just a sampling of what you can create under Donna Nova’s guidance.Start (or Jumpstart) Your Artistic Journey in Santa Fe
Novices and seasoned artists alike find their muse during DIY Santa Fe: A Creative Tourism Journey.
As someone with artistic sensibilities, I appreciate that Santa Fe offers an environment that continually stokes my creative fire. Here, creative folk of every experience level share ideas, insights, and visions with locals and visitors. Right now, a world of artistic opportunities awaits you among the many inspiring artisans and studios in and around Santa Fe. And with so many special deals on lodging available, there’s no excuse for not getting your art on in Santa Fe.
So come rev up your creative engine and return home with your own personal addition to the art world.
