In collaboration with Father Adrian Sisneros, the mayordomos, and parishioners, NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO has commissioned an altar for the historic church in Golden. The church was originally built around 1830 and was redesigned and rebuilt about sixty years ago by Fray Angélico Chávez. A photo taken during the rebuilding is below. In 2024 PROFUNDO collaborated with the parish on the restoration of the church.
Two preliminary altar sketches by santero Nicolas Otero are also below; we will add other images as the project progresses. Some of Otero's work is here; an article is here.
This $20,000 project was made possible by an anonymous donation and by additional support from the Robert L. Clarke Family Foundation, the Parker-Kuntz Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, Elizabeth Glassman, Sallie Bingham, Kathyrn Bard, James Higdon, Susan Howard and Vince Pigott, Katherine Carpenter, Laura Smith, Marie Noelle Meyer, Melissa Eason, Cheryl Nace, Richard Bentley, Tobin Clark, Timothy Mitchell, Michael Cannon, Robyn Hoffman, John Benigno, and Janet Desforges, in honor of Sana Morrow.
The altarpiece will be created using the methods of historic santeros in the mid-nineteenth century, including painting with natural pigments and hand-carving pine and other woods used traditionally. There will be two carvings in the round (bultos) done in the traditional New Mexican style: A St. Francis (church namesake) and a Crucified Christ, the latter placed at the apex of the altar. There will be five removable panels situated in the altarpiece framework. These panels measure approximately 20 x 30 inches and will be secured and fastened through the reverse side of the altarpiece. The images, chosen in collaboration with Father Adrian and the congregation, include St. Michael, St. Anne, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, and St. Joseph. A central floral panel will serve as the backdrop for the carved image of St. Francis.
The altarpiece will measure 116 inches in width (approximately nine feet) and 112 inches in height (approximately nine feet). It is designed to be placed around the current altar table (no physical alterations will be made to that table) and to be removable, but when the altarpiece is in place it will be safely and securely fastened to the existing wall. The historic architecture will be protected with foam padding.
A news article on the project is here.
