29 Oct From the Editor: When Art Leads the Way

With the holidays ahead, we’re bringing you a bunch of stories to make the winter days a little brighter. For those of you who are often stumped over what to bring to holiday dinners and parties, check out the Collector’s Notebook for a fascinating look into the wine industry and a bonus recipe for a festive cocktail. Things We Love is filled with unique items for gifting, and in Illuminations, we’ve found some fabulous artists and artisans you’ll want to check out.

On the architecture front, we called on an Omaha, Nebraska, architect, and we’re taking you inside three amazing houses designed to let art lead the way. We’ve also spotlighted a pair of artists: Texas painter David Griffin, whose work is a poetic reflection on the West, and the incomparable photographer Cara Romero, who opened up to writer Laura Zuckerman about the power of motherhood and speaking for Native Americans. Romero highlights those who are seemingly vanished from their ancestral homes and grappling with their place in a country they have both idealized and found wanting.

If you’re feeling the itch to get out of town, consider Mark Twain’s famous observation: “I’ve never spent a colder winter than a summer in San Francisco.” Surely this means the opposite is true, right? So, we recommend a visit to San Fran and the Big Art Loop, which is a citywide initiative to install major sculptures across 34 miles. Or check out Hotel Willa in Taos, a town known as a fabulous winter getaway where the chilly air is scented with sage and cedar from wood-burning stoves; where luminaria light winding paths; and art, jewelry, weaving, and pottery can be found in nearly every shop.

However you celebrate the season, we are grateful you bring us along.

Happy holidays!

Rose Fredrick, editor-in-chief
rose@westernartandarchitecture.com