Museums, scholars, artists, and archives dedicated to preserving and celebrating the New Mexican santero tradition.
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🏛 Museums & Collections
These institutions hold some of the most significant collections of New Mexican santos, retablos, and colonial sacred art in the world. Many offer online collection databases accessible to researchers.
📍 Santa Fe, New Mexico
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
The definitive collection of Spanish Colonial art in North America, including one of the finest holdings of historic New Mexican retablos and bultos. Home to an extraordinary colonial altarpiece and ongoing educational programming on the santero tradition.
moifa.org/collections
📍 Santa Fe, New Mexico
Museum of International Folk Art
Part of the New Mexico Museum system, MOIFA holds an extensive collection of New Mexican folk art including retablos, bultos, and nichos, alongside international devotional art traditions. Excellent for comparative study.
internationalfolkart.org
📍 Las Cruces, New Mexico
NMSU University Art Museum
Home to the Garlick Retablos Collection — a significant holding of Mexican retablos (ex-votos on tin) that provides important context for the broader North American devotional painting tradition. Collection database available online.
nmsu.edu/art-museum
📍 Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian American Art Museum
The SAAM's collection includes significant examples of New Mexican folk art and colonial sacred objects. The online collection database is freely accessible and includes high-resolution images of holdings.
americanart.si.edu
📍 Online
Library of Congress — Prints & Photographs
The LOC holds a remarkable archive of New Deal-era photographs documenting New Mexican santeros, home altars, and religious folk art from the 1930s–40s. Freely accessible online with high-resolution downloads.
loc.gov/pictures
📍 Albuquerque, New Mexico
National Hispanic Cultural Center
A hub for Hispanic arts and culture in New Mexico, the NHCC regularly features exhibitions on santos and the santero tradition, as well as workshops and demonstrations by contemporary practitioners.
nhccnm.org
📚 Books & Scholarship
These are the essential texts for anyone serious about the New Mexican santero tradition — from foundational surveys to highly specialized technical studies.
Santos: Sacred Art of Colorado
William Wroth · Book
A foundational survey of the New Mexican and Colorado santero tradition, with extensive documentation of major artists and collections. An essential starting point for any serious researcher.
Available via university libraries
The Bulto Book
Charles Carrillo · Book
The definitive technical and historical study of New Mexican bulto-making by the tradition's most important contemporary practitioner. Covers materials, methods, iconography, and the history of major artists. Essential reading.
Available via university libraries
Hispanic New Mexico
Marta Weigle · Book
A broad cultural survey of Hispanic New Mexico that provides essential context for understanding the communities in which the santero tradition flourished — the faith, the landscape, the daily life.
Available via university libraries
New Mexican Santos: How to Name Them
Donna Pierce · Pamphlet / Guide
A practical iconographic guide to identifying the saints depicted in New Mexican santos through their visual attributes. Invaluable for collectors, students, and anyone working with historic collections.
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
🎬 Documentaries & Videos
These films and videos bring the santero tradition to life — through the hands and voices of its living practitioners.
The Santeros of New Mexico
Documentary Film
A documentary portrait of contemporary New Mexican santeros working in both traditional and personal styles. Rare footage of studio practice, pigment preparation, and the devotional life that surrounds the work.
Available via documentary distributors
YouTube: New Mexican Retablo Tradition
Online Video
Search YouTube for "New Mexican retablo santero" to find a growing body of documentary footage, museum talks, and artist demonstrations. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art and the NHCC both post educational content.
youtube.com
Charlie Carrillo: Pigment Research
Lecture / Video
Several universities and museums have filmed lectures by Charlie Carrillo on his research into pre-contact pigment sources. These are among the most technically specific and fascinating resources available on the material culture of the tradition.
Search YouTube · "Charlie Carrillo"
🎨 Contemporary Santeros & Artists
These are the living practitioners keeping the tradition alive — in both strictly traditional and personally expressive forms.
Charlie Carrillo
Santa Fe, New Mexico · Santero & Scholar
The foremost living authority on the traditional New Mexican santero craft. Carrillo makes retablos and bultos using strictly historical methods — hand-ground pigments, hide glue gesso, egg tempera — and has trained a generation of contemporary santeros through workshops and apprenticeship.
Represented through Santa Fe galleries
Marie Romero Cash
Santa Fe, New Mexico · Santera
One of the most respected contemporary santeras working in the New Mexican tradition, known for retablos and nichos that carry both traditional iconography and a warm personal vision. Author of several books on New Mexican folk art.
Represented through Santa Fe galleries
A House of Saints
Albuquerque, New Mexico · Contemporary Devotional Art
We create contemporary retablos in the New Mexican tradition using a range of media — from traditional-inspired hand-painted panels to digitally rendered works — all grounded in the visual vocabulary and spiritual intention of the santero tradition.
Founded in 1925, the SCAS was instrumental in saving the New Mexican santero tradition from extinction. They run the annual Spanish Market in Santa Fe — the most important annual gathering of traditional Hispanic artists in the country.
spanishcolonial.org
Garlick Retablos Collection Online
NMSU University Art Museum · Database
An online database of the NMSU collection of Mexican ex-voto retablos (láminas), with images and documentation. An invaluable resource for comparative study of the North American devotional painting tradition.
nmsu.edu/art-museum
New Mexico Office of Cultural Affairs
State Agency · Arts & Culture
The OCA oversees New Mexico's network of state museums and historic sites, many of which have holdings relevant to the santero tradition. Their website provides access to collections information across institutions.
newmexicoculture.org
Deepen Your Knowledge
Explore our glossary of terms, browse the FAQ, or read the full story of the New Mexican Santero tradition.