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School for Advanced Research

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School for Advanced Research

The School for Advanced Research has supported innovative social science and Native American artisti

The School for Advanced Research has supported innovative social science and Native American artistic creativity for more than a century. Since we began offering fellowships in 1972, we have funded the work of more than 345 SAR scholars and artists, among whose ranks are six MacArthur Fellows and eighteen Guggenheim Fellows. Please join us in Santa Fe for insightful lectures or a tour of the Schoo

l's historic campus. You can also follow the work of our resident scholars and Native American artists on our website at www.sarweb.org.

09/04/2026

Catch a behind the scenes look at our education team installing “New Eyes: Visions of the Southwest from Childhood” which is on display in Vault 1 at the IARC. Sign up for a public tour to see these incredible paintings in person!

https://sarweb.org/tours/

09/03/2026

What will SAR’s Resident Scholars be thinking about this year?

From the unfinished story of emancipation in the United States to Indigenous genomics and bioethics, ancient Maya murals, Hopi foodways, relationships between humans and animals, and the work of Native women artists, the 2026–27 Resident Scholars are arriving at SAR with questions that span centuries, disciplines, and communities.

Join us for our annual Resident Scholar Table of Contents and meet the scholars who will make SAR their intellectual home in the year ahead.

Each scholar will have 5–10 minutes to introduce the ideas and questions at the heart of their current work—giving you a preview of the research that will unfold at SAR over the coming months.

Thursday, September 24
2:00–4:00 p.m.
Hosted at SAR
660 Garcia Street, Santa Fe

Advance registration is encouraged. Register: https://lnkd.in/gG-weaDa

09/02/2026

Table Magazine Feature | Nanibaa Beck

For Nanibaa Beck (Diné), the influence of other artists has never been limited to formal instruction. It has come through conversation, observation, family, and simply spending time together.

A former SAR Native Artist Fellow, Beck reflects on the artists who helped shape her path, including Connie Tsosie, whom she describes as a kind of “Santa Fe mom.” Watching Tsosie build a life and creative practice on her own terms gave Beck an early understanding that an artist's path does not have to be predetermined.

One lesson stayed with her:
“You get to define how you want to be seen.”

During her time at SAR, Beck continued that learning through studio visits with Native women metalsmiths, conversations with fellow artists, and time in the library and studio. Years later, she describes the fellowship as a place that gave her something equally important: peace, space, and time for creativity to grow.

Beck's reflections are part of SAR's collaboration with TABLE Magazine, highlighting former Native Artist Fellows and the relationships, knowledge, and creative practices that continue beyond their time at SAR.

INSTA: Explore the full TABLE Magazine article at the link in bio.

FB/LI: Explore the full TABLE Magazine article here: https://pulse.ly/hal014j0hy

09/01/2026

On September 15, SAR welcomes anthropologist Ashanté M. Reese for a virtual conversation about her book, Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness.

Reese looks at gardens, family reunions, repasts, and protests to explore the ways Black communities have long used food and gathering to create connection, care, and change. Joining her in conversation are Danilyn Rutherford and Anand Pandian.

Together, they’ll consider food justice not only as a question of access, but as an opportunity to recognize the abundance, knowledge, and community power already around us.

Join us online at 11 AM on September 15! For more details and to register to attend: https://pulse.ly/9cmpqh5w9p

08/27/2026

STAFF PICKS | Katherine Barry

For this SAR Staff Pick, Katherine Barry, Registrar at the Indian Arts Research Center, chose Little Turtle's Journey by Oneida artist Dawn Dark Mountain, SAR's 2015 Dobkin Native Artist Fellow.

Created as a cylindrical watercolor on paper, the piece illustrates scenes from the Haudenosaunee creation story of Little Turtle. As viewers move around the work, the story gradually unfolds, inviting them to experience it from multiple perspectives.

For Katherine, Dawn's work also holds a personal memory.

"Dawn was our artist fellow at SAR while I was an Anne Ray Intern here. It was always amazing to watch her folding the paper for her watercolors in the studio."

It's a reminder that the Indian Arts Research Center's collections don't just steward remarkable works of art. They also steward the relationships, creativity, and moments of connection that happen during an artist's/intern's/staff's/ or scholar's time at SAR.

Explore the Indian Arts Research Center and its collections: https://pulse.ly/f2hgrxifrq

08/26/2026

RECAP | Summer Course: Environmental History of New Mexico

In July, participants joined historian C. J. Alvarez for four days of exploration into the dynamic relationship between people and the landscapes of New Mexico.

Together, the group examined how the state's rivers, forests, deserts, and mountains have shaped human history, while also considering how generations of people have transformed the environment in return. Through lectures, discussion, and a half-day field excursion, participants learned all about environmental history from multiple perspectives and wrestled with questions about conservation and land use.

Thank you to C. J. Alvarez for leading an engaging and thought-provoking course, and to everyone who joined us for a week of learning, discussion, and discovery.

Become a member to gain access to courses like this one and to be the first to know when we launch new ones: https://pulse.ly/ymydba56xt

08/25/2026

TABLE Magazine Feature | Michael Namingha

For artist Michael Namingha (Ohkay Owingeh/Hopi), inspiration didn't come from looking somewhere new. It came from looking more closely at where he came from.

As a former SAR Native Artist fellow, Namingha returned to the Indian Arts Research Center to reflect on pottery created by his great-great-great-grandmother, Nampeyo. During his fellowship, he spent months studying generations of family designs, tracing how each artist interpreted inherited forms while leaving their own creative mark.

What he discovered surprised him.

"I realized there's a direct correlation between those shapes and my shapes," he says. "It's this motion of discovery when you're allowed to spend time with where you're rooted, that you find answers that you didn't realize were there."

Today, Namingha's conceptual photography explores landscape, climate change, and Indigenous relationships to place, blending contemporary materials with artistic traditions that span generations. Rather than seeing tradition and innovation as opposites, he views them as part of the same creative lineage, with each generation building on what came before while finding new ways to tell their own stories.

For artists, researchers, and visitors alike, the collections at the Indian Arts Research Center are more than works of art. They are opportunities to find connection and inspiration in ways that continue to shape creative practices today.

Explore the full Table Magazine article here: https://pulse.ly/a0p44nkqxn

08/21/2026

FEATURED | In Context with School for Advanced Research

You probably don't think much about the electrical grid—until the lights go out.

The vast network that powers our homes, hospitals, schools, and communities is one of the most complex systems ever built, yet it remains largely invisible in our daily lives.

In this episode of In Context, host Paul Ryer sits down with anthropologist Gretchen Bakke, author of The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future, to explore the surprising cultural, political, and ethical questions embedded within the infrastructure we often take for granted.

Whether you're interested in infrastructure, public policy, environmental challenges, or simply the hidden systems that shape everyday life, this conversation offers a thought-provoking look at one of the most consequential (and least visible) technologies of the modern world.

Read more about the conversation and then listen to the full interview anywhere you get your podcasts.

Read the blog: https://pulse.ly/nkk8yfkwqv

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://pulse.ly/rko2j08jzl

08/20/2026

Revisiting Karen Ann Hoffman’s Native Artist Talk!

In May 2026, Eric and Barbara Dobkin Native Artist Fellow Karen Ann Hoffman gave an incredible artist talk to guests both in person and to those tuning in for the livestream.

Drawing from her experiences as an artist, educator, and cultural practitioner, Karen Ann shared insights into her creative process, the stories that inform her work, and the importance of maintaining connections between artistic practice, community, and cultural knowledge.

Guests had the opportunity to learn directly from Karen Ann as she reflected on her time in residence at SAR, the influences that have shaped her work, and the ways contemporary Native artists continue to engage with tradition while forging new paths forward.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this special evening, and to Karen Ann Hoffman for sharing her work and perspective with our community.

Did you know most of our artist talks are livestreamed? Sign up for our weekly email newsletter (SAR Connects) through the link in our bio and be the first to know about upcoming talks.

Explore the full talk online at: https://pulse.ly/jfseqkhfae

08/19/2026

RECAP | Summer Scholar Talk: Off Res: Fonseca's Coyote as Trickster in Transit

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Summer Scholar Talk with Amy Scott, Executive Vice President of Research and Interpretation and the Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Curator of Visual Arts at The Autry.

Drawing on the work of artist Harry Fonseca (Nisenan Maidu, Hawaiian, Portuguese), Scott explored how Fonseca's iconic Coyote figure challenged conventional expectations of Indigenous art. Through humor, storytelling, and contemporary imagery, Coyote became a vehicle for examining identity, culture, stereotypes, and social change while moving fluidly between Indigenous and Western artistic traditions.

The afternoon sparked thoughtful conversation about the enduring power of Indigenous artists to reshape narratives, question assumptions, and expand our understanding of contemporary art.

Thank you to Amy Scott for sharing her expertise and to everyone who participated, both in person and online.

Learn more about upcoming SAR events: https://pulse.ly/f2enoo24m3

Address

660 Garcia Street
Santa Fe, NM
87505

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15059547200

Website

http://www.sarweb.org/

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