Beloved Santero Carvings on East Alameda River Trail

Over the weekend it was reported that another one of the Seven Archangels that has stood on the East Alameda River Trail since 2004 has fallen over. Pauline Kanako Kamiyama, Director of the Arts & Culture Department, inspected the site and attributes the decline of the piece (Raphael) to rot in the wood and recent storm activity.

Sachiel was damaged during the summer storms of August 2020 and was removed for restoration by santero artist Jose Lucero. In the spring he treated all the remaining sculptures with a varnish as a stopgap measure, however, the wood is rotted on many of them.

The Arts & Culture Department has an ongoing Angel Fund campaign to raise funds to replace an angel a year – and the donor appeal has just gained new urgency.

“It remains our long-range dream to have Mr. Lucero sculpt a replacement angel every year,” says Director Kamiyama. “We kicked off our Angel Fund campaign to enable him to work on them, starting with Sachiel, and now Raphael will be next. Each angel sculpture will cost $3,500 and as funds are raised, Mr. Lucero will be able to repair and replace angels until all seven have been restored. It is unfortunate that these are rotting faster than we can replace them. Thankfully, our Parks crew was able to preserve this one.”

A native of Santa Fe, Lucero has been featured in Spanish Market since 1997. His work is featured in the Spanish Colonial Arts Museum locally, as well as several private and museum collections around the world.

Patrons are invited to invited become Angel Donors by contributing any amount.

Send a check payable to the: 

City of Santa Fe/Angel Fund Public Art

PO Box 909

Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-0909

Attention: Cashier’s Office

Or

Make a donation over the phone with a credit card by calling:

Clarence Romero, (505) 955-6547

Information: Please contact Pauline Kanako Kamiyama, Director, Arts and Culture Department at pkkamiyama@santafenm.gov