Visitors to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe often take the plunge and drive an hour north to Abiquiu where the well-known artist lived, worked and painted some of her most striking images. Those wishing to get to know Abiquiu may be perplexed after arriving because it's a quiet town.
Billboards are in short supply, as are souvenir shops. But if you treat yourself to coffee or a meal at the Abiquiu Inn or Bode's (the general store), you can experience the town's special character for yourself. Abiquiu residents accommodate visitors, but not so many that the small-town atmosphere is impacted.
The Abiquiu Library is an unlikely visitors' center
The Pueblo de Abiquiu Library and Cultural Center is the closest thing Abiquiu has to a visitors' center. It's small (as libraries go) and it's located on the hill above the post office on the unpaved plaza. There, an old adobe church commands center stage, with a church parish hall and O'Keeffe's home and studio nearby. The library trustees decided to take on the job of responding to visitors in recent years after they realized the librarian and its director were already being approached by people wandering around the Abiquiu plaza asking questions such as, "Is it really true that Georgia O'Keeffe lived around here?"
There's much more to Abiquiu than Georgia O'Keeffe, but visitors most often start with the artist and their curiosity takes off from there. The Abiquiu librarian's monthly report has a column for reporting how many visitors have stopped by the library during any given month to ask for more information about O'Keeffe and the town, as well as browse through the library's noteworthy regional history collection.
An Abiquiu Library Read-a-Thon opens the door to the community for visitors
Like public libraries everywhere, the Abiquiu Library and Cultural Center struggles for funding. Fortunately, its fundraising events are as appealing to visitors as to the local residents. The fundraiser set for Sunday, March 14, 2010, a Read-a-Thon, is a prime example.
The Abiquiu community will be reading the book of local historian and author Gilberto Benito Cordova, Abiquiu & Don Cacahuate: A Folk History of a New Mexico Village. The Read-a-Thon is a rare opportunity to meet local people who are passionate about their town, its history, and the many layers of connections to Santa Fe. The reading will focus on the influence of the Catholic church in Abiquiu and shed light on the community O'Keeffe came to know and love.
Visit the library Sundays through Thursdays, 1-6 p.m. Call the library (505-685-4884) to sponsor someone to read for 15 minutes during the Read-a-Thon. Or become a reader yourself. Have fun with the young people, community members and local artists who will draw and listen to commentary about Abiquiu and its history. Understand some of the many reasons why the town specifically, and New Mexico, in general, was such a significant creative refuge for Georgia O'Keeffe, who also lived and worked at Ghost Ranch, about a twenty-minute drive from Abiquiu. O'Keeffe died in Santa Fe and her ashes were scattered on the Abiquiu mountain she so loved, Pedernal.
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