Encounter Culture

Some of New Mexico's most prominent artists are passing traditional Nuevo Mexicano art forms like colcha embroidery, retablos and bultos, tinwork, and straw applique down to the next generation. These artists include Jean Anaya Moya, Vanessa Zamora, Vincente Telles, Arthur Lopez, Eric Romero, Vanessa Alvarado, Rhonda Crispin, and Cleo Romero. Elena Baca, education program manager at the National H...

Accordions are woven into New Mexico's soundscape—at fiestas, on plazas, and in the musical storytelling traditions that travel across generations. In this episode of Encounter Culture , host Emily Withnall talks with Tony Tomei and Antonio Maestas, a master-and-apprentice duo who completed the New Mexico Arts Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program in 2024, focusing on accordion restoration and traditio...

Photos can obscure as much as they reveal. When we encounter historic photographs, it can feel like we've entered the past through a portal. But like contemporary photographs, what is left out of the frame is as interesting and puzzling as what we can observe. Still, the donation of historic photos to any archive can only help to add to our knowledge and expand the questions we need to ask. This i...

In this episode of Encounter Culture , community-led archaeology takes center stage as an alternative to extractive excavation practices of the past and a best practice rooted in respect and deeper historical understanding. At the Cañón de Carnué land grant in New Mexico, New Mexico State University has partnered with land grant heirs, as Dr. Kelly Jenks, a historical archaeologist with NMSU, disc...

Are you feeling the pull to be connected this winter? We have some opportunities for you to be a part of New Mexican culture featuring art, history, science, poetry, and live conversations. Plus find out who loves winter and who does not... Encounter Culture host Emily or producer Andrea? Learn more about the Folk Art Apprenticeship Program & Apply: https://bit.ly/nmartsfolk Get details about the...

New Mexico has a new Poet Laureate! Although Manuel González is well known in the slam poetry circles in Albuquerque—where he also served as the city's poet laureate from 2016 to 2018—he is now stepping into a larger role with big visions about how to engage the entire state in the unique connection and expression inherent to poetry. Throughout his career, González has made it his mission to reach...

New Mexico is the fifth largest state, making access to art, history, and culture at museums or historic site difficult for many. The Wonder on Wheels mobile museum traverses the state to bring art and history directly to small towns, villages, and Pueblos, ensuring everyone can participate in the rich cultural conversations so central to New Mexican identity. The exhibition inside the thirty-eigh...

In anticipation of another rich season of New Mexico history, art, and culture, El Palacio editor and Encounter Culture host Emily Withnall and producer Andrea Klunder reflect on a year of award-winning storytelling. From earning national recognition for both the podcast and the magazine to the art of curating New Mexico's most compelling voices, Andrea and Emily share what it takes to craft stori...

For as long as humans have been on this earth, we have looked to the cosmos for information and direction. The Indigenous people of North America used the skies to make sense of their environments and to guide them in planting crops, building villages, and conducting ceremonies. The new exhibition at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, Makowa: The Worlds Above Us , showcases a wide range of art,...

On the surface, Diné author Daniel Vandever's picture books might appear to be straightforward stories, but the messages about the power of imagination and adventure in his books are imbued with layers of meaning. In his book Fall in Line, Holden!, a little boy breaks free from the constraints of rules and discipline by using his imagination. On a deeper level, the book speaks to the history of In...

A long, long time ago, the region that is now New Mexico was part of a giant land mass, and it was located on the equator. The climate was warm and tropical and much of the present-day state was covered in shallow seas. This was long before humans or even dinosaurs existed—252 to 541 million years ago. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science has recently opened a new permanent exhibitio...

The Media Arts & Technology department at New Mexico Highlands University is a one-of-a-kind program. Students not only learn about technology and design, but they get to implement their ideas, working from brainstorming and mind mapping to exhibition design and installation, interactive displays, and so much more. NMHU professors Lauren Addario and Becca Sharp join Emily Withnall to talk about th...

New Mexico Arts runs a Folk Arts Apprenticeship Program that pairs masters in a particular art form with apprentices so that a wide variety of arts unique to New Mexico can be passed on. In this episode of Encounter Culture , host Emily Withnall chats with bootmakers Jes Márquez and Deana McGuffin about their experience with the Apprenticeship Program and the wonderful challenge of making beautifu...

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a cultural icon with deep roots in Mexican and Chicano communities across the United States and Mexico, among other places. Artists in New Mexico often reference Guadalupe in their work—including Chicana artist Delilah Montoya. A mixed-media piece, "La Guadalupana," by Montoya features a large photograph of the Virgin of Guadalupe as tattooed on the back of an incarcerat...

Join host Emily Withnall and producer Andrea Klunder for a preview of the upcoming 8th season of Encounter Culture . This season features diverse topics, including an interview with artist Delilah Montoya, a tour of the brand-new Ancient Life exhibition at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, a conversation about children's books with author Daniel Vandever, and a deep look inside...

Roughly six thousand large antelopes native to Africa live on the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. Once small in number, these oryx have proliferated and make for an unexpected sight with their giant bodies, striking black and white faces, and long, spear-like horns. What are the oryx doing in New Mexico? Las Cruces-based photographer, Marcus Xavier Chormicle's research of the ani...

How many times have you visited the same museum? Whether your answer is "one" or "hundreds" this episode of Encounter Culture invites listeners behind the scenes to hear about the rewards of visiting and revisiting the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Longtime security guard Nick Wadell and docent and customer service rep, Michelle Rodriguez, share stories about works of art, mysterie...

How old are the footprints at White Sands? It depends on who you ask. Scientists are currently divided on this question, but the division is one that is propelling more research with the goal of determining whether humans have been in North America for 23,000 years or closer to 15,000 years. The ditch weed, or Ruppia, is at the center of this debate. What can a plant tell us about carbon dating to...

What is art, and who gets to define it? The Convergence x Crossroads: Street Art from the Southwest exhibition at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque provides an entry point to this conversation. Former National Hispanic Cultural Center curator Rebecca Gomez and street artist Strike have a lot to say about the challenges and contradictions inherent to creating a street art exhibit...

Some stories persist for hundreds of years. La Llorona is one such story. Though there is much speculation about where exactly the original story began, it is clear that La Llorona as a legend and myth has staying power. What is it about the weeping woman that has captured our imaginations for centuries? And how has the story of La Llorona changed over time? Irene Vásquez, chair of the Chicana and...

Let's be honest: these are turbulent times for us all. No matter who you are and what your personal circumstances are, it's likely that you may be in need of some remedies or poetry—or both! Santa Fe Poet Laureate Tommy Archuleta offers both in his new collection, Susto. The book of poems weaves poetry about love and loss with meditations on the New Mexican landscape. Threaded between the poems ar...

Dispelling misconceptions about street art, discovering ancient footprints that reconfigure our origin stories, and delving into remedios for a broken heart… A new season of Encounter Culture is coming your way October 2024! Follow the podcast or subscribe in your favorite app and follow El Palacio Magazine on Instagram @elpalaciomagazine for updates. EPISODES TO CATCH UP ON: Science Fiction for S...

What does the space history have to do with science fiction? More than you'd think! Among the many exhibitions the New Mexico Museum of Space History offers is one called Sci Fi & Sci Fact: Two Worlds Collide . As Chris Orwoll, executive director of the New Mexico Museum of Space History shares, TV shows and movies like Star Trek and Star Wars were greatly influential to NASA employees. And that's...

Museum of International Folk Art curators Patricia Sigala and Chloe Accardi are dedicated to co-collaborating exhibitions alongside community members. For the upcoming exhibition, Between the Lines: Prison Art & Advocacy, this commitment to community feedback and engagement is particularly strong. What began as a small exhibition in the museum's Gallery of Conscience last year, will be opening as...

For many people who live in New Mexico the nearest library might be three hundred miles away. Luckily, the New Mexico State Library runs two excellent rural library services: Books by Mail and three bookmobiles that serve different regions of the state. If you live 20 minutes outside of the city limits of any city in New Mexico, or if you live within city limits but are homebound, or if you can on...