Desert and Light: The Art and Architecture of Judith Chafee and Antione Predock

Art and architecture take center stage on November 21 as New Mexico Museum of Art brings together two exhibitions featuring two of the Southwest’s most noted architects: Antoine Predock: Landscape Body Form Light (November 21, 2026 – August 15, 2027 at our Plaza location), and Powerhouse: The Engaged Regionalism of Judith Chafee’s Architecture (on view at Zane Bennett Contemporary through November 25).

The discussion with Christopher Mead, Curator for the Antoine Predock exhibition, Christopher Domin, Cocurator for the Judith Chafee exhibition, and moderator Devendra Contractor of DNCA Architects will explore how Antoine Predock and Judith Chafee both had careers intertwining the environment of the Southwest, influential architecture, and art. Predock famously stated in his book Ride, “But true architects are artists.”

SPEAKER BIOS:

Christopher Mead, PhD, taught from 1980 to 2013 at the University of New Mexico, where he served in numerous roles. A Fellow of the Society of Architectural Historians, he has written widely on modern architecture and urbanism, including books on the French architects Charles Garnier and Victor Baltard, on the American architects Robert Venturi, Bart Prince, and Antoine Predock, and on Japanese modern architecture in the wake of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.

Christopher Domin is an architect and educator at the University of Arizona and lectures internationally on the topic of regional modernism and technological innovation. Domin is a coauthor of the books Powerhouse: The Life and Work of Judith Chafee and Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses, published by Princeton Architectural Press.

Devendra Narayan Contractor is the Founder of DNCA Architects, a Santa Fe architectural firm with a history of engagement in the arts, including the new Georgia O’Keeffe Museum currently under construction, the Vladem Contemporary, and many of the gallery buildings in the Santa Fe Railyard. DNCA is the recipient of over twenty awards, including the 2025 AIA Santa Fe Architecture Firm Award for Design Excellence, Innovation, and Service.

Free to attend!

St. Francis Auditorium is equipped with an audio loop assissted listencing device.

ASL interpretation will be provided at this event.