A display in the traveling exhibition, ‘Following the Manito Trail’. Courtesy/MRM
SFCC News:
SANTA FE — Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) will host an opening reception for the traveling exhibition Following the Manito Trail from the Millicent Rogers Museum, noon to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 26 in the Main Hallway on campus, 6401 Richards Ave. The exhibition runs through Oct. 15.
SFCC’s Director of Art on Campus Linda Cassel said, “We’re so pleased to be able to share the rich cultural history shared in the Following the Manito Trail exhibition so well-prepared by the curators at the Millicent Rogers Museum on our campus. It’s an enlightening exhibition that will also touch the hearts of so many Hispanic families from northern New Mexico.”
Representatives from the Millicent Rogers Museum will be at the opening reception to talk with attendees about the development of the exhibition. Refreshments will be served.
The Millicent Rogers Museum shares this about the exhibition:
“Following the Manito Trail is a cultural heritage exhibition that shares the migration experiences, creative practices, and largely untold stories of Manito (Hispanic New Mexican) families from Taos County and its surrounding area. These families carried their culture with them through their migrations to other states for seasonal and permanent work during the 19th and 20th centuries. These migrations represent Manito family values in surviving, even if it meant leaving the homes they cherished.”
Their contributions significantly impacted the American West through their labor in sheepherding, coal mining, railroad construction, and the sugar beet fields. Wherever they went, they never forgot their roots in New Mexico, and they shaped their new homes in other states to preserve and adapt their cultural traditions that they brought with them. For some families, the following generations stayed in their diaspora homes, and, for others, they returned to New Mexico. Through their descendants, Manito families carry on the legacy of shaping the northern New Mexico cultural landscape through professions in medicine, the humanities, the arts, linguistics, and agriculture.”
The exhibition highlights Manito family histories; the significance of storytelling, agricultural, poetic, religious and culinary practices to Manito families.
The public is welcome at the reception and is invited to stop by any time during SFCC campus open hours to view the exhibition.
For more information about the exhibition, contact Director of Art on Campus Linda Cassel via email at linda.cassel@sfcc.edu or call 505.428.1501.