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, mysteries, and memorable visitors that will give listeners a deeper experience of the museum—and hopefully, entice them back again.
“I’ve also noticed … when the adults come in and they turn into children all over again, and it’s really sweet to see that,” says Rodriquez. “When they go into [the Gerard] wing and they see all these toys and they’re like, this room just reminds me of being a kid.”
Seeing things with new eyes is just one of many rewards of visiting a museum many times. Both Wadell and Rodriguez also encourage visitors to the museum to engage in the hands-on arts opportunities that are available to all.
“They … have an educational table in each new exhibit where kids—and we say kids’ age range is from three to a hundred and three—we tell people so that adults can participate, color, cut out, whatever they’re doing,” says Wadell. “Even in our new exhibit on prison art, you can actually make paper flowers and put ’em on an altar that’s in there right now.”
“[Kids] love to ask questions, and they want to know more, and they’re very interested in how pieces were created,” says Rodriquez. “Kids can come in for free, they get to make something, take it home, and then they get to understand how the pieces were created and what mediums they have to use to even make their own art pieces.”
Mentioned in this Episode:
Girard Wing at the Museum of International Folk Art
Article in fall issue of El Palacio: The Art of Survival: The Aftermath of the Deadly 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot
Amidst Cries from the Rubble: Art of Loss and Resilience from Ukraine: Exhibition at MOIFA through April 27, 2025
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Encounter Culture is a production of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, produced and edited by Andrea Klunder at The Creative Impostor Studios.
Hosted by Emily Withnall, editor at El Palacio Magazine
Executive Producer: Daniel Zillmann
Technical Director & Post-Production Audio: Edwin R. Ruiz
Recording Engineer: Kabby at Kabby Sound Studios in Santa Fe
Editor & Production Manager: Alex Riegler
Associate Producer & Editor: Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Lakota)
Theme Music: D’Santi Nava
Instagram: @newmexicanculture and @elpalaciomagazine