Wild at Heart: Ernest Thompson Seton, the first exhibition devoted to the life, artwork and writings of one of America’s greatest conservationists, opens May 23 during the New Mexico History Museum’s first-anniversary celebration. A year’s worth of programs will deepen visitors’ understanding of Seton and help them get in touch with their inner naturalist.
The Museum of New Mexico Board of Regents has granted free admission to the museum for both May 22 and 23 in honor of the History Museum’s record-breaking first year. “Wild Weekend” activities include a program featuring a live wolf from Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary, animals and raptors from the Wildlife Center in Española, a booksigning, and access to all of the History Museum and Palace of the Governors exhibits.
Wild Weekend schedule:
Saturday, May 22
10 am – 5 pm: Free Admission
12 - 2 pm: The Wildlife Center in Española brings winged and four-footed animals it has rescued to the Palace Courtyard
12 - 5 pm: Sneak peek of Wild at Heart
Sunday, May 23
10 am – 5 pm: Free admission
12 - 4 pm: First anniversary celebration in the Palace Courtyard. Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary brings “Forest,” a wolf ambassador, with a program at 1:30 pm
2 - 4 pm: Opening reception of Wild at Heart hosted by the Women's Board of the Museum of New Mexico in the Palace Courtyard; book signing of Ernest Thompson Seton: The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist with author and guest curator David L. Witt.
Wild at Heart: Ernest Thompson Seton is presented with special support from the Academy for the Love of Learning, home of the Seton Legacy Project in Santa Fe.
The exhibit dedicates itself to telling the often overlooked story of the conservationist, author, artist, lecturer and co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Ernest Thompson Seton’s impact on America’s conservation movement was immeasurable.
Running through May 8, 2011, this original exhibition replaces Fashioning New Mexico in the museum’s second-floor Albert and Ethel Herzstein Changing Exhibitions Gallery. It's accompanied by a catalog, Ernest Thompson Seton, The Life and Legacy of an Artist and Conservationist (Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2010), with a foreword written by Sir David Attenborough.
Curated by New Mexico art historian David L. Witt, director of the Academy’s Seton Legacy Project, Wild at Heart marks the first major exhibition about Seton. Most of the art and artifacts – more than 30 original paintings and drawings by Seton, books, personal memorabilia, and photographs – have been seldom if ever seen. Many of the items on loan to the exhibit come from the Academy for the Love of Learning and from the Philmont Museum and Seton Memorial Library at the Philmont Ranch in Cimarron, N.M. For more on the exhibit, including downloadable, high-resolution photographs, go to http://media.museumofnewmexico.org/events.php?action=detail&eventID=644.
Wild at Heart programs:
Saturday, July 10, 2010: 10 am - 1 pm: Nature journaling workshop for children 10-14 years old with Margy O'Brien. Call (505) 476-5106 for reservations and materials; free with museum admission.
Saturday, July 17, 2010, 10 am - 5 pm: Nature journaling workshop for adults with Margy O'Brien. Call (505) 476-5106 for reservations and materials; free with museum admission.
Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010, 10 am - 1 pm: Seton Castle tour. Celebrate Seton's 150th birthday with campfire tales and tours of the ruins of his castle. Join guest curator David L. Witt and Academy for the Love of Learning staff in Seton Village. Call (505) 995-1860 for directions and reservations; free.
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, 1 - 2 pm: Zoo to You. Albuquerque's Rio Grande Zoo brings its interactive educational program about wildlife conservation to the museum classroom with animal bones, pelts, feathers and more. Free with museum admission.
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010, 10 am - 1 pm: Seton Castle tour. Learn how the Academy for the Love of Learning is carrying on the Seton legacy in Seton Village. Call (505) 995-1860 for directions and reservations; free
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2010, 10:30 am: Storyteller Joe Hayes brings his talents to the Wild at Heart exhibit area. Nationally recognized for his stories about American Indian, Hispanic and Anglo cultures, Hayes is a bilingual author and storyteller. Free with museum admission.
Saturday, Dec. 18, 2010, 10:30 am: Storyteller Sunny Dooley tells American Indian Din'e stories in the Wild at Heart exhibit space. Free with museum admission.
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011, 10:30 am: Storyteller Nasario Garcia shares stories of yesteryear – "Tales of My Childhood: Rattling Chains, Flying Goats and Talking Lizards" – in the Wild at Heart exhibit space. Free with museum admission.
Sunday, March 13, 2011, 2 pm: William deBuys on "Growing Up with Uncle Ernest's Wildlife Stories," a lecture in the History Museum Auditorium. Free with museum admission (Sundays free to NM residents).
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 9 am: Urban Bird Hike in downtown Santa Fe with the Randall Davey Audubon Center. Call (505) 476- 5106 for reservations; free.
Saturday, April 9, 2011, 10 am - 1 pm: Seton Castle tour. Learn how the Academy for the Love of Learning is carrying on the Seton legacy in Seton Village. Call (505) 995-1860 for directions and reservations; free.
Sunday, May 1, 2011, 2 pm: Guest curator David L. Witt on "Woodmythe & Fable: A Look Back at an Artist-Naturalist," a lecture in the History Museum Auditorium. Free with museum admission (Sundays free to NM residents).
For more information: (505) 476-5200
Photo above: White-winged Crossbills, oil on board, 1883. Ernest Thompson Seton. Photo by James Hart, courtesy of the Academy for the Love of Learning.
Funding for the exhibit and programming events was made possible by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs; National Park Service/Save Our Treasures Grant Program; Museum of New Mexico Foundation; New Mexico History Museum Opening Gala Committee; Phyllis and Edward Gladden Endowment Fund; Herzstein Family Endowment Fund; and the Palace Guard.
The New Mexico History Museum is the newest addition to a campus that includes the Palace of the Governors, the oldest continuously occupied public building in the United States; Fray Angélico Chávez History Library; Palace of the Governors Photo Archives; the Press at the Palace of the Governors; and the Native American Artisans Program. The New Mexico History Museum/Palace of the Governors is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs. For more information, visit www.nmhistorymuseum.org.
