Shopping in Santa Fe
Native American Art
Santa Fe is probably the best place in the world to shop for specifically American Indian arts and crafts. How to proceed depends on what your goals are and how much you want to spend. If your goal is to obtain mementos of no great intrinsic value, check out the Native American vendors on the "Portal" (accent on second syllable) in front of the Palace of the Governors; the jewelry and pottery is inexpensive (of course, you get what you pay for) and its authenticity is guaranteed. Pickings may be a bit thin on Sundays, and the vendors pick up and go home after 5:30. A word of warning: do not patronize the similar vendors on sidewalks out around town unless you know they're OK. If they're not on the Portal, there's a reason, and one common reason is that they're passing off non-Indian junk as authentic. Some authentic artisans may be off the Portal, but caveat emptor.
For higher-quality (and -priced) Indian art that you'll feel good about when you get it home, galleries cluster around the Plaza. Some reputable ones (there are more) are:
- Andrea Fisher Fine Pottery, 221 W. San Francisco, +1 505 986-1234, info@andreafisherpottery.com, [58]. Summer M-Sa 10AM-6PM, Su 12PM-6PM; Winter M-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su closed. Small, but high quality
- Packard's, 61 Old Santa Fe Trail (at the southeast corner of the Plaza), +1 505 983-9421, Toll-free: 800-648-7358, Fax: +1 505 984-8174, packards@packards-santafe.com, [59]. An old standard with an excellent, diverse collection and some "Anglo" work as well
- Ortega's on the Plaza, 101 W. San Francisco, +1 505 988-1866.
- Steve Elmore Indian Art, 839 Paseo de Peralta, suite M (between Palace & Alameda), ? 505-995-9677, [60]. 10am-5pm. Specializing in Native American antiques with an emphasis on historic Pueblo pottery, Navajo weavings, kachinas, and old pawn jewelry.
- Blue Rain Gallery, 130 Lincoln Avenue, Suite D, ? 505-954-9902, [61]. 10am-6pm, closed Sun. Specializing in contemporary Native American art, including pottery, paintings, glass sculpture, jewelry and mixed media.
There are other good ones as well; if you find one that you think offers particularly good value for dollar, please expand this list. You can spend as little as $100 for a small piece, or spend more money than you have for something that's literally one-of-a-kind.
Other Art
If you have any interest at all in "Anglo" art, make sure you walk down Canyon Road (an easy stroll from downtown), which is full of unique, quirky and just plain fun art galleries. Other galleries are west and south of the Plaza in the downtown area itself. A small sampling to give you a sense of what's there (note that opening hours at these can be somewhat erratic and are not always posted):
- Chuck Jones Gallery, 135 W. Palace Ave., +1 505 983-5999. Amid the galleries featuring the scenic and cultural beauty of the Southwest and Native Americana, you can find this one featuring the "beauty" of ... Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner!? This gallery memorializes the great cartoon artist and his successors in animation art, with many originals. Not what you might think of as typical of the Santa Fe art scene, but highly entertaining. Hours apparently "flexible."
- Gabriel Gallery, 6 Banana Lane (off US 285 north of town), +1 505 455-9230. Paintings, sculpture, jewelry; across the parking lot from the excellent Gabriel's restaurant (see below), and combines well with a meal there.
- Gerald Peters Gallery, 1011 Paseo de Peralta, +1 505 954-5700. Open M-Sa 10AM-5PM. One of Santa Fe's "high-end" galleries, with works by some famous artists (Hurd, Remington, Miro, etc.), bearing six-digit price tags in some cases. If you're looking for inexpensive "souvenir" art, look elsewhere, but the serious art collector should definitely check this one out.
- Glenn Green Galleries, 136 Tesuque Village Road (in Tesuque, 5 miles north of the Plaza), +1 505 820-0008. Open M-Sa 10AM-5PM; Sunday by appointment. Established in 1966, 5 acre sculpture garden and gallery. Contemporary sculpture, paintings, prints and wall art by artists such as Allan Houser (whom the gallery represented from 1974-1994), Khang Pham-New, Eduardo Oropeza, Melanie Yazzie, etc.
- Jane Sauer Gallery, 652 Canyon Road, +1 505 995-8513. M-Sa 10:00AM-5:30PM; Sun Noon-5:30PM; closed on Sun in winter. One of the top "material-based" galleries in the country showing the work of over 70 internationally-acclaimed artists using fiber, glass, clay, and sculptural materials to create their art.
- Klebau Photography Gallery, 220 E. Santa Fe Ave., +1 505 954-4777. The proprietor of this photography-oriented franchise is also deeply involved with Santa Fe's classical-music scene, and may be able to give you tips on what's playing if he's there (buying something doesn't hurt, of course).
- Manitou Galleries, 123 W. Palace Ave., +1 505 986-0440 or +1 800 283-0440. Mid-range ($100 to $20,000) work, mainly with a Southwestern theme; nice bronzes. 9:30-5:30 M-Sa, 11-5 Sundays -- one of the relatively few Santa Fe galleries open 7 days a week.
- Nedra Matteucci Fine Art, 555 Canyon Road, +1 505 983-2731, [68]. Traditional paintings and sculpture by contemporary European and American artists.
- Nedra Matteucci Galleries, 1075 Paseo de Peralta, +1 505 982-4631. M-Sa 8:30AM–5PM. Another gallery by the well-known Santa Fe entrepreneur, this one with an emphasis on 19th- and 20th-century work, including a number of works from the art colony at Taos.
- Shidoni Arts, Bishops Lodge Road (at the outlying village of Tesuque), +1 505 988-8001. M-Sa 9AM-5PM. 8 acres of sculpture garden display the diverse and eclectic -- some would say peculiar -- work of the locally-celebrated Shidoni Foundry, along with furniture, ceramics, photography, etc.
- William R. Talbot Fine Art, 129 W. San Francisco St. (upstairs), +1 505 982-1559. Specializing in antique maps and prints.
- Winterowd Fine Art, 701 Canyon Road, +1 505 992-8878. Open M-Sa 10AM-5PM, Su 12PM-4PM. A reasonable (if comparatively conservative) example of the many Canyon Road galleries; friendly and helpful service.
This listing barely scratches the surface of the art scene in Santa Fe; the community phone book lists over six pages of galleries. There are some tourist traps among them, but far more good stuff than tourist junk. If you see a gallery you like, add it to this list.
Other Stuff
There are quite a few specialty stores for toys and lots of book stores, most of which are in the downtown area.
On the west side of the city there are many outlet malls and card-holder-only stores like Sam's Club. Nearby on Zafarano Road, there is a large gathering of newer upscale stores like Border's and Starbucks. These exist despite the long suffering Villa Linda Mall which underwent an image makeover in the middle of 2005 and renamed itself "Santa Fe Place." This image makeover is the butt of many jokes among the local population. The other enclosed mall in town, De Vargas Center north of the downtown area, has fallen on hard times in recent years, although there's a decent Mexican restaurant there.
A Santa Fe institution is the flea market just north of the Santa Fe Opera along highway 285. It's open on weekends except during the winter, and offers cut-rate shopping for just about anything you can get elsewhere in town. Visit to look for random memorabilia (although you may wonder why you bought them when you get home!) and also for some entertaining people-watching.
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