Page 59 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2021 DISCOVERING SANTA FE

We had explored Canyon Road before, roam-
ing from gallery to gallery. Each time Ron was in-
spired to get out his paints when he returned to
our San Diego home. On this trip, we wanted to
learn more about Canyon Road and its current
residents. To do that, we turned to Santa Fe Art
Tours founder and lead tour guide, Elaine Ritchel.
Our guide, Elaine, was a perfect selection. She
fell in love with art at five when she was first
awed by Monet and van Gogh. Today that passion
is informed by an education in art history and ex-
perience as an art educator in the U.S. and
abroad. She was charming and fun as she helped
us hone our ability to see, describe and assess
art.
As we moved from one gallery to another,
Elaine shared with us the story of Canyon Road.
Canyon Road began as a rural neighborhood of
small farms along an old Indian trail. There are
still a few adobes built by early Spanish settlers
dating back to the 1750s. Early Santa Feans trav-
eled the “Road of the Canyon” to gather firewood
in the mountain forests.

KayContemporaryArt
Sculpture garden & contemporary fine art
on historic Canyon Road. We loved the
scupture garden and the amazing
landscape abstracts of artist Rick Stevens.
https://kaycontemporaryart.com/

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