EDWIN BROOKS HOUSE EXHIBITION
The Edwin Brooks House is closed for the remainder of 2024 and will reopen on Thursday, January 2, 2025.
Sabino's Map: Life in Chimayó's Old Plaza
Photographs by Don J. Usner
PUBLIC OPENING | FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2024 | 5-7 PM
LECTURE & BOOK SIGNING | THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024 | 3 PM
FUNDRAISING DINNER WITH DON J. USNER | SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2024 | 5:30 PM
EXHIBITION ON VIEW THROUGH THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2025
The exhibition and all associated events will take place at the Eugene and Clare Thaw Education and Research Center,
housed within the historic Edwin Brooks House at 553 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The gallery at the Edwin Brooks House will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-5 pm or by appointment.
Contact Giulia Caporuscio, Development Associate and Research Historian, at giulia@historicsantafe.org for more information or to schedule an appointment.
If canceled by October 31, 2024, participants will receive a full refund for the events. If canceled after November 1, 2024, participants will receive a tax-donation for the full amount.
© Don J. USner
About the Exhibition
Public Opening | November 1, 2024 | 5-7 pm | The Edwin Brooks House, 553 Canyon Road, Santa Fe
Historic Santa Fe Foundation (HSFF) is pleased to present a photography exhibition titled Sabino's Map: Life in Chimayó's Old Plaza, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of Don J. Usner’s seminal publication of the same name. This curated exhibition, a visual anthropology of Chimayó’s cultural tapestry, will debut at the Eugene and Clare Thaw Education and Research Center, housed within the historic Edwin Brooks House at 553 Canyon Road, Santa Fe. The public opening is scheduled for Friday, November 1, 2024, from 5-7 pm. Free and open to the public. No registration required.
About the Talk & Book Signing
Talk & Book Signing | Thursday, November 14, 2024 | 3 pm | The Edwin Brooks House, 553 Canyon Road, Santa Fe
Free for HSFF Members | $10 per person for non-members
Complementing the exhibition, a lecture and book signing with Don J. Usner, will be held on Thursday, November 14, 2024, at 3 pm. The talk is free for HSFF members and $10 for non-members. Given the limited capacity, advance registration is required. Want to reserve your signed copy of Sabino's Map: Life in Chimayó's Old Plaza or can’t make the event? Pre-order now.
About the Fundraising Dinner with Don J. Usner
Fundraising Dinner with Don J. Usner | Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 5:30 pm | The Edwin Brooks House, 553 Canyon Road, Santa Fe
$115 per person for HSFF Members | $135 per person for non-members
Check-in at 5:30 pm, dinner and remarks by Don J. Usner at 6 pm. Join us for an intimate evening with acclaimed author and photographer Don J. Usner as we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary edition of his seminal work, Sabino's Map: Life in Chimayó's Old Plaza. This exclusive dinner event offers a unique opportunity to delve into the rich narratives of Chimayó with one of its most insightful chroniclers. The sala, or main living room, of the Edwin Brooks House serves as the venue for this intimate buffet-style dinner. This inviting space embodies the distinctive designs and craftsmanship of William Penhallow Henderson, showcasing hand-adzed wooden beams, elaborately carved radiator covers, an interior balustrade balcony, and Henderson's signature rose motif. This fundraiser supports the preservation of architectural gems like the Edwin Brooks House and HSFF educational initiatives promoting Northern New Mexico’s diverse cultural heritage.
Dinner Presentation: Preservation Prospects and Accomplishments in the Plaza del Cerro in Chimayó
Don Usner, author of Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza, will talk about his experience writing about Chimayó’s renowned Plaza del Cerro and working with the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association to advance preservation efforts there. Coincidentally, the book was released in 1995 on the same day the CCPA opened the doors of the Chimayó Museum. In the ensuing 30 years, Usner, a founding member of the CCPA board, has participated in a sustained effort to educate and inspire people—Chimayosos and visitors alike—about the value and significance of the Plaza del Cerro as a historic site. Usner will recount the successes and struggles of this decades-long effort to protect a historic treasure in a challenging social environment.
If canceled by October 31, 2024, participants will receive a full refund for the events. If canceled after November 1, 2024, participants will receive a tax-donation for the full amount.
About Sabino's Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza, Thirtieth Anniversary Edition
Chimayó is renowned for its Hispano master weaving families, lowriders, and its storied church, El Santurio de Chimayó. The old Plaza del Cerro had once been the village’s center place, where locals gathered to pick up mail, socialize and celebrate religious and family events. Over the years after WWII, the plaza was neglected, but the memory of the once-vibrant place remained vivid in the stories of village elders.
The first edition of Sabino’s Map, published in 1995, documented oral histories of these elders. It would prove to be a critical turning point for many Chimayosos. At the Chimayó book launch, Usner recalls locals embraced the book, one cousin of his even declaring, “For the first time in my life I feel like I can be proud to be from Chimayó.” In the past thirty years since its publication, the community and its people have been revitalized with the help of the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association and the establishment of a museum on the old plaza—in the home of Usner’s ancestors.
This landmark publication, read and passed on through generations, is considered a classic of New Mexico literature, alongside other treasured books including John Nichols’s Milagro Beanfield War, Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima, and Ruben Cobos’s Dictionary of New Mexico and Northern New Mexico Spanish.
About Don J. Usner
Don J. Usner was born in Embudo and raised in Los Alamos and Chimayó. A cultural historian, writer, and photographer, he has authored and contributed to numerous books on New Mexico, including Benigna’s Chimayó: Cuentos from the Old Plaza, Chasing Dichos through Chimayó, Valles Caldera: A New Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve (with William deBuys), and ¡Órale! Lowrider: Custom Made in New Mexico. Usner is a founding board member of the Chimayó Cultural Preservation Association.
© Don J. USner