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      In my most recent newsletter I mentioned that the current building and premises of Nedra Matteucci Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico has now been acquired by a new owner. Fortunately, the gallery itself will continue on in another location and I'll be filling you in later about what I know of the plans going forward. Before getting to that, I thought it would be interesting to tell some of the story of how I came to be showing my work in that beautiful space. 

     My first memory of the former Fenn gallery stretches back several decades. In the early seventies I enrolled in an art school in Tulsa,Oklahoma where my brother had been studying full time for a year or more. At first I took classes half days, and later after graduating from high school, I started attending all day, 5 days a week. This was before the digital age and sadly, there aren't many traces to be found of Art Student's Academy or its founder and instructor Pat McGuffin. Her influence and the exposure she gave us to the art world though, still echo and reverberate through my life. One of the most impressionable experiences was a field trip we took to the Santa Fe and Taos area to camp out, paint and see the galleries. It was a group of 7 or 8 of us, and of the full time students on that trip I was the youngest and also the only female, so I pretty much thought of myself as the caboose. At that time I possessed no glimmers of outstanding artistic ability and had no reason to think I could ever possibly become a professional painter. However, when we toured what was then the Fenn Gallery, that didn't stop me from saying to myself  --"Wow! THIS is where I want to show my work when I grow up!" 

     Fast forward about 15 years --- I had come back from studying in New York and was showing in galleries in Oklahoma when an artist friend invited me me to travel to New Mexico on another painting excursion. During that trip in 1986 ,I met several artists in this area and then, as luck would have it, stumbled across an apartment that was just too good of an offer to refuse. I had always dreamed of one day being a full time painter and figured if I didn't jump at the opportunity I'd probably come to regret it. The timing was good, so I put a deposit on the apartment and within a month had moved my belongings to Taos. Shortly after getting settled in, a neighbor and fellow painter mentioned my name to Nedra Matteucci, who was just then opening her first small gallery on Canyon Road. On the drive south with my paintings in the car, I was thinking maybe, just maybe, she would accept one or two but really having no idea what I might be getting into. I took a big gulp when Nedra asked to keep everything I had brought and then I drove home in shock, especially after it sunk in that practically every dime I possessed was tied up in the frames around the paintings I'd just unloaded in Santa Fe. 

     I don't recall anymore the exact timelines but eventually that gallery location switched to a larger space further up Canyon Road and I continued to sell well enough that I was invited to do several two person shows there with one of the sculptors they also represented. Somewhere along the way , the Matteuccis acquired the old Fenn Gallery location and later Morning Star Gallery for Native American art. From there it was a somewhat convoluted path but after a number of years, I eventually ended up showing my work in that magical gallery space I had first visited as a wide-eyed 16 year old wannabe artist in 1972. Until the recent gallery announcement about a 50th Anniversary Show, it had never occurred to me that the year I first stepped foot in Fenn Gallery on that art school painting trip was also the first year that building opened its doors as a place to sell art.

    The schedule now is for the move to take place in November when the new owners will begin converting the property into luxury condominiums, so the buildings and gardens will soon no longer be open to the public. It feels like the end of an era for those of us with such fond memories of that amazing space filled with beautiful art but fortunately there are also some exciting things to look forward to down the road. Construction permits are awaiting approval for an addition to Morning Star Gallery. The space for artwork will be limited until the new wing to the gallery is complete but by year's end I should find myself exhibiting on Canyon Road once again. So many things have come to pass since I first moved to New Mexico, but through it all, I'll always feel very fortunate to have been a part of this gallery and it's history. You can see photos of the present location and read about the future plans at https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/nedra-matteucci-galleries-moving-to-canyon-road/article_b25ffde8-e1f5-11ec-95d5-47d0ce892e9f.html 

You can also visit the gallery website at https://www.matteucci.com

To find out more about the 50th Anniversary summer show, please  check the EVENTS link on my home page.

Note from Matteucci Galleries  -- This past year the gallery celebrated its 50th anniversary and came very close to relocating. However, we are happy to announce the gallery will continue on as usual into the new year and foreseeable future.