A Tin Tribute in Chilili
IN THE SMALL East Mountains community of Chilili, a folk art memorial holds sacred space. During the mid-20th century, local artist Horace McAfee created punched-tin tombstones for the San Juan…
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Tag: Backstory
Totah Theater Shines Again
AT DOWNTOWN FARMINGTON’S historic Totah Theater, an unexpected feature greets moviegoers: small wooden tables tucked between the last four rows of seats. Opened in 1949 by the Allen Theatres chain…
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Reactions to Hwéeldi Mural
ABSORBING EVEN A FRACTION of the harrowing story of the Long Walk—the U.S. Army’s forced removal of thousands of Diné (Navajo) and Ndé (Mescalero Apache) people to the Bosque Redondo Indian…
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Find Gene Hackman’s Art in Santa Fe
WHEN GENE HACKMAN died in February, many Santa Feans were unaware that the longtime resident had dabbled in the local art scene, and they may have even dined below Hackman’s vibrant paintings at Jinja…
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Unearthing the Atari Tomb
IN FALL 1983, an industry-wide video game crash left Atari with an entire El Paso warehouse full of unsold inventory, including hundreds of thousands of copies of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial—often…
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Time to Check Out the Pancho Villa Clock
AT 4:11 A.M. ON MARCH 9, 1916, the railway clock at the Columbus train depot was silenced forever when a bullet struck its face and pierced the gears. The predawn hour marks the onset of Mexican…
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The Story Behind the $CRAP$ Shrine
THIS SUMMER, the high desert near Taos got a little quirkier with the appearance of the $CRAP$ Shrine. Inspired by roadside Greek chapels, artist Tony Stamolis constructed the small concrete-and-adobe…
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History Takes Flight in Hobbs
YOU MIGHT THINK it’s the real thing: A World War II Boeing B-17 bomber surrounded by crews preparing for takeoff. But this flying fortress—located on what once was Hobbs Army Airfield, where…
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This Border Art Oasis Honors Mothers
DURING A CROSS-COUNTRY TRIP in 2014, sculptor Taras Mychalewych’s car broke down near Columbus, a village three miles north of the U.S.–Mexico border. The car was repaired in a few days. But instead…
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Juanita’s Final Resting Place
IT TOOK 142 YEARS, or more than seven times her age at death, for Juanita Martinez Garrett (1860–1879) to get a grave marker. The memorial for Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett’s first wife—a…
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