Santa Fe Chic O’Keeffe Museum Will Boost City’s Tourist Quotient

Santa Fe owes Georgia O’Keeffe big time. The opening last month of the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, showcasing more than 80 pieces of the legendary American artist’s work, put an indelible spotlight on the New Mexico capital, art center and tourist haven.

The O’Keeffe Museum has come at an opportune time for Santa Fe. It will lure legions of O’Keeffe lovers who want to commune with the artist’s dramatic works and experience first hand the vast arid landscapes, the rugged mountains and the incredible light that inspired her. O’Keeffe spent the last 37 years of her life in Abiquiu, near Santa Fe. And at last, her paintings adorn the walls of a fine museum, the first in America dedicated to a woman artist of international acclaim.

Because of its quality and stature, the O’Keeffe Museum may also provide Santa Fe with the impetus to refine its image and move away from its recent T-shirt, junk-jewelry, factory-outlet, mass-tourism course.

Santa Fe, long noted for its adobe chic and so-called Santa Fe style, has been slowly turning into something of a cliche. In the course of this shift, Santa Fe has drifted away from its roots as the oldest capital in North America, the oldest European community west of the Mississippi and a crossroads of Hispanic, Indian and Anglo cultures.

The city’s site was first occupied by Pueblo Indians, then Spanish conquistadors. Later settlers, traders and missionaries found their way there via the Santa Fe Trail from the Midwest and the Chihuahua Trail from Mexico. Artists, writers and tourists came later, some by rail.

When Santa Fe was tabbed as the world’s primo destination by Conde Nast Traveler in 1992, more and more tourists flocked to the little adobe-style town nestled at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The town’s picturesque charm, its grand setting and its cosmopolitan air also drew moneyed Texans, Californians and celebrities from all over the country. Together, the influx of tourists and wealthy part-time residents hastened changes for the worse in old Santa Fe, a city of 60,000. Wealthy homeowners escalated real estate prices and spurred the construction of splashy mansions and new gated condo communities and golf courses in this 7,000-foot, high-plains region, an area short on water. In the process, they displaced generations of Hispanic families.

The Plaza, once cherished by locals, is now the turf of teens - and tourists. Every evening a police squad car sits poised at the Plaza. Tourists had their own impact. Homey businesses that once drew locals have given way to tourist traps and trendy stores that can afford to pay high rents.

The bus tours roll in, the tourists stroll the historic Plaza and gawk at the Indian vendors who sell their jewelry and pottery beneath the portal of the Palace of the Governors, the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States. Many tourists sample a little Southwest cooking, buy T-shirts and kitschy Southwest art and depart for their next tour stop.

These travelers do generate revenue for Santa Fe. And perhaps they learn a bit of history during their visit. But they barely scratch the surface of this unique place.

During a three-week stay last autumn, my wife and I made the rounds of our favorite galleries, restaurants and other sights, including a tour of Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, open on a limited-visit basis.

What struck us about Santa Fe on our seventh visit was the continued watering down of the city, the flocks of clueless tourists and the fact Santa Fe seemed to be leaning toward mediocrity - moving in a direction that threatened to blend it into that bland, homogeneous mall culture that blankets America from Manhattan Beach to Bar Harbor.

With the O’Keeffe Museum open, Santa Fe now possesses a wealth of museums for a small city - a quality collection that gives the city a chance to establish itself as a major arts/ cultural center reaching far beyond the Southwest. The Palace of the Governors, Fine Arts Museum, Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, the Laboratory of Anthropology, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and Institute of American Indian Arts Museum all house fine works.

An array of other cultural riches bring depth and dimension to the Santa Fe experience. Consider these gems: the Santa Fe Opera, a summer staple; dynamic festivals including Indian Market, a gathering of 800 Indian artists held this month; 200 art galleries, many showcasing a wide spectrum of superb crafts, folk art and fine art, not Santa Fe kitsch; and SITE Santa Fe, a biennial exhibition of cutting-edge contemporary art that runs through Oct. 12 and draws critics, dealers and patrons to the city from all over the world. Also at Santa Fe’s doorstep: the cultural influence of eight Indian pueblos, among the nation’s oldest communities.

The big question is: Can Santa Fe shuck its penchant for howling coyotes and red chili peppers and upgrade its image?