Over the last eight years, curator and professional arts-lover Christian Waguespack has risen through the ranks of the state’s New Mexico Museum of Art, beginning as the Curator of 20th Century Art and, ultimately, becoming its Head of Curatorial Affairs. The latter position included oversight of the Vladem Contemporary offshoot of NMMA that opened last year. Not one to fear adventure, Waguespack recently announced he’ll leave New Mexico to become the Museum of Northwest Art’s Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Northwest Art in La Conner, Washington, north of Seattle. We spoke with Waguespack as he prepares to leave New Mexico after nearly 20 years working in the arts here. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. (Alex De Vore)
I’d love to get your take on something, which is that New Mexico seems to be a state most people in the rest of the country don’t know much about, yet it seems like our contributions to the art world cannot be understated. Do you think that’s fair?
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that’s the topic of a huge dissertation and many books and many discussions, but I think depending on who you ask, you’re gonna get lots of different answers. New Mexico’s historical and cultural differences from the rest of the US puts it in that category of…though geographically large, we’re a small state and not a lot of people live here, and we’re kind of far away from those major—and I’m saying this in quotation marks—‘cultural centers’ like LA, Chicago and New York, so it’s kind of easy to not pay a lot of attention if you’re from the outside.
I would also add that part of what makes New Mexico so strong is part of what’s led to this perception of being skipped over, which is that, for the most part, what makes it special are the very humanities-driven things. It’s art, culture, history, and for many people, it’s spirituality. When you look at the broader US, the things that draw people to places outside where they’re born are economic or industrial for the most part, whereas, for the vast majority of people…if you’re not already inclined toward the humanities or the power and beauty of nature, or an incredibly rich and complex cultural and artistic history, maybe you wouldn’t look to New Mexico. This is, of course, coming from my point of view of the outsider looking in. If you were to ask a Native person, they’d have different things to say. But there’s almost always this story of a ‘calling to New Mexico,’ where they kind of discover this thing and realize how wonderful and unique and special it is. New Mexico is like a cat: You love it, you adopt it, you never really own it.
You moved here from Louisiana in 2007 knowing very little about the area. Was there anything that surprised you or you’ve since learned about the Southwest and its art and artists that you would consider surprising or particularly notable?
I think the thing that hooked me and called me and has kept me interested and will keep me interested for the rest of my life is what arts and culture people do when they’re here. I’ve been so impressed with the critical mass and the self-determination. New Mexico contributes so much more of its fair share of artistic content to the rest of the country, and I think part of that comes from people coming here and doing that balancing act of escaping cultural environments where you can get swept up into a melee and it’s difficult to differentiate yourself. I think it offers space for perspective, and this goes back to New Mexico’s deep, deep, deep Indigenous history.
I don’t think there’s ever been a time when it hasn’t hit way outside of its cultural level and perceived relevance to the rest of the country in terms of its artistic output in ways that make ripples—going back to the dawn of Pueblo pottery; this is top-tier, deep, historic American art, and that comes from here. Or the Spanish colonial art that’s been made here for the past 400 years, and you see it in major museums across the country, and it’s this unique and special thing in the US. With all of the more colonist artists, they were producing this work that wasn’t just for their neighbors, it got out to the rest of the world and created this idea of what the West was.
Is there anything you learned while working for the New Mexico Museum of Art that you’ll carry with you in future institutional positions?
I’ve always kind of described myself as a recovering academic. I went to grad school for art, for museum studies, but I feel like my education came from working with the institution and the people in this community. They’re who I learned everything from. I can’t point to one thing I’ll take with me and keep, because it’s like asking a fish to talk about water, but [working here] has shaped my view on what museums should be and what an arts culture institution should be. What I’m going to take is everything I’ve learned from every individual I’ve met.
Part of the reason I was excited to come work at the New Mexico Museum of Art when I was first hired was that the collection is so strong and the rep for Santa Fe as an arts center was and is so strong. I think back on it, and of course I have my favorite pieces, artists and exhibitions—and I’m always going to smile when I think of them—but really, the arts community in Santa Fe…people I’ve formed relationships with in Taos, Roswell, Las Cruces…it’s such an amazing group of thoughtful, passionate and collegial people, and I wouldn’t have been able to do everything I’ve done here if it weren’t for that environment.
