Iris Fitzpatrick
Earth Mother, a large scale bronze sculpture from Jemez Pueblo artist Estella Loretto, greets visitors to Wiford Gallery's spacious garden.
If you’re not looking for sculptures and/or statues on Canyon Road, you’re missing out.
Canyon Road might be considered ancient by most Americans, but here in New Mexico, we know better. Sure, it’s hosted galleries for the past half-century, but its reputation as an art hub pales next to the thousands of years it existed as a path used by nearby Pueblo communities. When the Spanish arrived in the first decade of the 1600s, they immediately built an irrigation ditch here to divert precious water from the Santa Fe River. Still later, when the Santa Fe Trail sliced through town in 1821, fortune seekers, outlaws, and missionaries used the path, gradually widening it to accommodate covered wagons and later, Model T Fords.
Across a couple of late August afternoons, I checked out this prehistoric path-turned-gallery zone, exploring a couple dozen or so of the 80-plus businesses on Canyon Road to find a few highlights. In its present iteration, Canyon Road is designed to attract people with enough money to buy flabbergastingly spendy art, but that doesn’t mean curious locals are unwelcome.
“The feeling on this road can be extremely communal,” longtime Canyon Road gallerist Tracy King, who is one of ViVO Contemporary’s nine artist-owners, says, " like a gathering place.”
Events like the buzzy, city-sponsored Canyon Road Summer Walk, next slated for Wednesday, Sept. 4, are heartening to King.
“Community events are great to drive foot traffic,” she explains. “People aren’t necessarily buying art because of them, but that’s OK.”
My first stop is Nuart Gallery (670 Canyon Road, (505) 988-3888), a longstanding contemporary gallery housed in the former Gormley’s, one of several grocers who served rural Canyon Road families in the 1900s. The gallery still retains showy storefront windows, and inside, its creaky wood floors lead you through multitudinous rooms, resplendent with Spanish-Pueblo Revival and Territorial architectural details. The real treasure is just outside the gallery, though, on Gormley Lane. This little shortcut from Canyon Road to Acequia Madre looks prettiest in the early evening, when its brick storehouses and stoic cottonwoods cast dramatic shadows across the well-worn dirt road. Keep strolling to Acequia Madre or loop back to Canyon Road via the gallery-lined Gypsy Alley. Here you’ll find Gypsy Baby, which offers thoughtfully arranged goodies like smirking plush shrimps, insanely chic baby outfits, and droll party supplies, lots of it under $40.
It’s been 250 years since the first recorded residential settlements cropped up along Canyon Road, and some excellent examples of these early homes remain. On the road’s north end is the stately former Borrego House, which was more or less in continual habitation from the time Geronimo Lopez built in the 1700s until 1992, when the building was purchased and transformed into fine-dining establishment Geronimo (724 Canyon Road, (505) 982-1500). Yes, the prices are high and the vibes can be stuffy, but the old home’s austere beauty is worth a gander—especially if you’re lucky enough to score a spot at the famously tiny bar inside.
Are twelve-foot-tall metal wind sculptures high art? No. Are they cool to look at? Hell, yes. You’re amiss, even curmudgeonly, to roll your eyes at the prospect of walking around Canyon Road simply to look at big sculptures. There are dozens of dazzling outdoor spaces to explore, and I found those at Legacy Gallery (225 Canyon Road, (505) 986-9833), El Zaguán (545 Canyon Road, (505) 983-2567), and Zaplin Lampert (651 Canyon Road, (505) 982-6100) especially enchanting. If you’re looking for even more green space, walk north to Patrick Smith Park (1010-1098 E Alameda St.) and enjoy hilly expanses of grass and the best dog-watching in the whole city.
By the roaring 20s, artists like Will Shuster and Gerald Cassidy descended on Canyon Road, living and working in converted studios and developing a collector base through exhibitions hosted at the Museum of New Mexico. Get a taste of what inspired this wave of creative transplants at the curatorially excellent Matthews Gallery (659 Canyon Road, (505) 992-2882), which specializes in secondary market paintings from hallowed American modernists like Arthur Dove and Janet Lippincott.
Near the start of the Canyon, you’ll find Project Tibet (403 Canyon Road, (505) 982-3002), a nonprofit retail and community space that’s welcomed visitors with lush gardens, plentiful parking and feel-good shopping since 1980. Project Tibet’s generous emerald gardens are home to dozens of peaceful carved Buddha statues and shaded benches, making it an ideal resting spot for tired walkers. Inside the store, Project Tibet offers T-shirts emblazoned with Hindu gods, colorful animal mobiles, wool hats and even yak adoption opportunities. Much of the merchandise is under $30, and your money goes to a good cause.
My personal favorite thing about Canyon Road is the Santa Fe River Trail, which is actually a block away from the Road, off of Delgado Street. Heading down Delgado and away from Canyon, turn right onto the dirt road just before East Alameda to access a narrow, mostly flat path that feels worlds away from Canyon Road’s commercial pursuits. Tall grasses and wildflowers border this river path, which culminates in an enchanting rock waterfall.
Canyon Road Summer Walk: 5-8 pm Wednesday, Sept. 4. Free.
Canyon Road, canyonroadsummerwalk.com
