Written by Lenore Macdonald, Click here to read more
Published in Classic Chicago Magazine, August 9, 2020
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Millicent Rogers was in her 40s and thrice-divorced when she met Hollywood heartthrob Clark Gable sometime after World War II. From her vantage point, he looked like he might be The One. Until he decided she certainly wasn’t.
“She chased him. They were dating, but she stalked him in restaurants,” said Cherie Burns, author of Searching for Beauty: The Life of Millicent Rogers (St. Martin’s Press, 2011).
It wasn’t as if the King of Hollywood didn’t give a damn about the worldly socialite, but Rogers eventually saw that he cared more about comely young starlets than he did about her affections. They broke up after she found him escorting the actress Virginia Gray to bed.
Read the full Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo article by Jennifer Levin here.
As quietly as a humble ritual you might witness in a colonial capilla, a new exhibit is opening without fanfare this weekend at the Millicent Rogers Museum, one that offers a look at Hispanic Colonial folk art that may surprise, delight and certainly enlighten.
The show is titled “The Faithful,” and it opens Saturday (Aug. 17) in the museum’s largest changing exhibit galleries. It is being installed this week to include 30 works of historic and contemporary works by curator Carmela Quinto.
Read the full Taos News Tempo article here.
]]>The Turquoise Gala is one of the biggest events on the Millicent Rogers Museum calendar. In among the art exhibits and special events, the institution on the hill above El Prado hosts the highly popular gala to raise essential funds in support of the museum.
The ability to express one's ideas through drawing is the foundation of all great representational works of art, according to art teacher Michael Hensley.
"In the visual arts," he adds, "drawing is usually the first step in manifesting concepts, thoughts and inspirations. To successfully recreate on paper what one sees in one's imagination requires the highest degree of technical ability combined with great intellectual capacity. It is more than just a rote exercise. Bringing to life something no one has seen before is creation in its purest form."
Examples of works by his Taos Arts Club/Teen Art Studio students are featured in an exhibition with the theme "Don Quixote," on view now through May 5 at the Millicent Rogers Museum, 1504 Millicent Rogers Road in El Prado. The show opened with a reception Wednesday (April 10).
Read the full Taos News Tempo article here.
]]>The hugely popular Taos Pueblo artisans event at Millicent Rogers Museum returns for its seventh year this weekend.
"As part of the Millicent Rogers Museum's ongoing commitment to Taos Pueblo, the museum is hosting its seventh annual Taos Pueblo Artists Winter Showcase," writes the museum's Executive Director Dr. Caroline Jean Fernald in an email about the event.
The show opens with a reception Friday (March 8) from 5-7:30 p.m. It will continue through Sunday (March 10) with special times (see below). The museum is located at 1504 Millicent Rogers Road, off U.S. 64 northwest of El Prado.
"Please note that Sunday is 'spring forward' too," said Kathleen Cornbringer Michaels about clocks moving ahead one hour at midnight this Sunday. A 13-year museum professional with Millicent Rogers Museum, Cornbringer Michaels is both the coordinator for Winter Showcase and a multimedia artist in her own right, including performance art (theater, dance, singing), as well as beadwork, painting and photography. For the Winter Showcase she is working in collaboration with Ilona Spruce of Taos Pueblo Tourism and sponsorship from Taos Mountain Casino.
The full Taos News Tempo article can be read here.
]]>Just when everyone else is snugged-in deep for winter, Taoseños are busy getting artwork ready to show for the miniatures exhibit held every February at Millicent Rogers Museum. But this year's annual exhibit is one of three events planned for this weekend - two hosted by the museum, and the third being a Heritage Inspirations dinner with 10 percent of proceeds donated to the museum.
"Millicent Rogers Museum will host three events at the museum that relate to the museum's collection of Southwest art," said MRM Director Dr. Caroline Jean Fernald last week. Namely, these are:
Fernald notes that all three events are fundraisers for both the museum and participating local artists and businesses.
Read the full Taos New Tempo article here.
]]>It's official: We're in the holiday season: A blanket of snow dots the foothills around us, trees are being decorated, gifts are being tucked beneath them, biscochitos are being baked, lights are being strung and farolitos are being lit all around the town.
It is also the season for some of Taos' most-loved special events. For starters, put the Millicent Rogers Museum's annual Holiday Fiesta, now in its 21st year, on your to-do list if it's not already there.
The Holiday Fiesta will take place Saturday (Dec. 1) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and as always will offer a wide array of family-friendly entertainment and activities. Music, dance, face painting and holiday arts and crafts are among the many choices included in the day's agenda.
Read the full Taos News Tempo article here.
]]>Seven months after Taos resident Clark B. Funk died, Heritage Trust Company of New Mexico has announced that the gifts of his real estate and substantial art collection have all been distributed and that a charitable trust has been established to administer the residue of his estate under the terms of his will.
Funk’s residence and personal property, valued at over $400,000, was bequeathed to the Taos Community Foundation.
For decades Funk owned and operated the popular Don Fernando Curio & Gift Shop in the Taos Plaza. He left a substantial gift of coins, jewelry and Native American art, appraised at $193,900 to the Millicent Rogers Museum.
Read the full article here.
]]>The Millicent Rogers Museum was founded on the Standard Oil heiress' personal collection of Native American jewelry, textiles, paintings, and various other items she amassed during her time in the Southwest.
The collection began with approximately 888 objects. In the 62 years since the museum's founding, the collection has grown to over 7,000 items. Approximately 70 percent of the collection was obtained through donations, including a large gift of over 150 items from the Clark Funk estate.
Read the full Taos News Tempo article here.
]]>Millicent Rogers Museum Executive Director Dr. Caroline Fernald had some big news when she put out her latest newsletter.
Aside from noting the success of the museum’s annual Turquoise Gala, she also excitedly told museum members and patrons that the institution was the recipient of a very special gift.
Read the entire Taos News Tempo article here.
]]>The Millicent Rogers Museum is proud to announce that we have been awarded reaccreditation by the American Alliance of Museums.
The museum has been an accredited institution since 1986, and is joined by 1,068 accredited museums. It is estimated that there are currently over 35,000 museums in the U.S. alone and only 21 accredited museums in New Mexico. Reaccreditation means the MRM continues to meet National Standards and Best Practices for U.S. Museums and remains a member of a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence. Through a rigorous process of self-assessment and review by its peers, the museum has shown itself to be a good steward of its resources held in the public trust and committed to a philosophy of continual institutional growth.
]]>Tempo Staff for The Taos News
This year, the Millicent Rogers Museum celebrates its 60th anniversary, and is “taking this opportunity to showcase the finest pieces in the museum’s collection by developing a robust calendar of events and exhibitions,” an announcement reads. “The majority of the museum’s collection is representative of the diverse Indigenous and Hispanic cultures of the Southwest with particular strengths in the traditional arts of northern New Mexico.”
]]>Teresa Dovalpage, The Taos News, March 18, 2016
Who doesn’t enjoy a good story? Tales, myths, legends and even jokes are centuries-old ways of preserving tradition and knowledge. Everybody has a grandfather, a grandmother, an aunt or an uncle who shared old tales with them. And these tales will in turn be retold and passed to new generations.
“In the Southwest, stories are not merely told for enjoyment, but can also be parables told for education or deeply spiritual accounts that tell the history of a culture or tradition,” said Carmela Quinto, curator of collections at the Millicent Rogers Museum (MRM).
It is only fitting that the museum, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, has organized an event around storytelling in its many manifestations.
“Storytellers: Teaching Heritage through Song and Story” will be on view from Friday (March 18) through July 17, 2016. It will focus on the multifaceted narratives that are conveyed across cultures and through a variety of media.
“The museum is committed to building and cultivating a strong relationship with the local community, and this exhibit strives to honor and respect the vibrant storytelling traditions of the region,” said MRM Executive Director Caroline Jean Fernald.
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