Fresh Explorations in the O’Keeffe Museum Galleries
Three new galleries share different visitor experiences and Georgia O’Keeffe’s creative inspirations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—October 25, 2019 (Santa Fe, NM) — Beginning in November,
visitors to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum can enjoy three fun, inspiring features in its Museum
Galleries in Santa Fe: Travels, The Natural World, and Seeing Beyond. These gallery changes
highlight fresh explorations into the artist’s life, work, and creative legacy. Travels centers around Georgia O’Keeffe’s global explorations. Georgia O’Keeffe was a lifelong traveler, enthralled by what she termed the “wideness and wonder of the world.” Moved by curiosity and the search for new motifs, she traveled from New York to coastal Maine in the 1920s, and to Hawai’i in Later in life, after settling permanently in New Mexico, O’Keeffe began to travel internationally, including a three-month trip to Peru, and two voyages to Japan. Travels features O’Keeffe’s art inspired by her adventures, including the first showing of Untitled (Mt. Fuji) (1960) since its recent conservation.
The Natural World celebrates Georgia O’Keeffe’s deep affection for the nature that surrounded
her. This gallery has a hands-on approach to the Museum’s collection. Designed for visitors of all
ages, The Natural World includes touchable rocks from the artist’s beloved places, delicate seashells paired with magnifying glasses, hand-written notes, a 3-D printed animal horn, and images of Georgia O’Keeffe meticulously arranging her collection of earthy objects. The gallery weaves in many of Georgia O’Keeffe’s great works, such as Ram’s Head, Blue Morning Glory (1938), reunited with the Spanish goat skull that was likely its inspiration.
The third feature is Seeing Beyond, an exploration of how Georgia O’Keeffe played with
perspective in her abstract compositions. Seeing Beyond shares examples of Georgia O’Keeffe’s unique vision, and encourages visitors to see art in clever ways. For this gallery installation, the Museum collaborated with the Albuquerque-based design firm Electric Playhouse to create an interactive environment that merges movement, playfulness, and clouds. Providing another take on perspective, an audio tour in the gallery guides listeners through a slowed-down approach to enjoying a trio of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings, including The Beyond (1972).
Travels, The Natural World, and Seeing Beyond offer different views into Georgia O’Keeffe’s
explorations—and into visitors’ experiences. The galleries will be open to the public beginning November 8, 2019.
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ABOUT THE GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM: Since 1997, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum has
shared the art, life, and story of Georgia O’Keeffe with visitors from around the world. Located in
New Mexico, where Georgia O’Keeffe lived the final decades of her life, the O’Keeffe has sites
and experiences in two historic destinations, Santa Fe and Abiquiú. For more information, please visit okeeffemuseum.org
