Gran Quivira Gate Canvas Print

GRAN QUIViRA
Gran Quivira lies 25 miles south of Mountainair on Route 55.
The Gran Quivira is by the best known of the Spanish pueblo mission churches. It is the largest ruin of any Christian temple existing in the United States.
At Gran Quivira, two missions were constructed high on a barren, winds-swept hill along side the Pueblo de las Humanas. The first church was called San Isidoro and was built in 1629 by Fray Juan Letrado and thirty years later a much larger and more imposing mission was built by Fray Diego de Santander. This church, which was called San Buenaventura , was never finished.
Unlike the missions at Abo and Quarai that were constructed of red sandstone, the pueblo and missions at Gran Quivera were constructed of red sandstone, the missions at Gran Quivera were built using thousands of pieces of carefully fitted limestone bound together with adobe mortar.
Prior to the coming of the Spaniards the Pueblo de las Humanas was an important trade cente...

ARTIST STATEMENT How and when does one decide to become a painter? There are many different answers to this question. In my case it was a visit to a garden store, selling among other things, ceramic vases. To this day, I remember seeing a black ceramic vase and the impact this particular object had on me. Looking at this vase filled me with joy and excitement. At that moment, I decided that my future lay in fine arts. I was ten years old at that time. When I visited the government's career counseling service I voiced my passion for art. The counselor informed me then that I lacked an important prerequisite to pursue a career in the visual arts, a rich father. I was crushed. I can finally answer the question posed by Langston...