It is my second visit to Taos. And again, my mind turns to be full of new ideas and projects. Also here the art scene is just as incredible as in Santa Fe. Taos always inspires me, now and then.

From the early days of Taos’ establishment as an art colony women were a big part of the scene. From the early 20^th Century artistic matrons Lucy Harwood and Mabel Dodge Luhan to the countless visual artists, writers, musicians and gallery owners in modern-day Taos, this valley has offered an unique sanctuary for women to create. Artistic women in Taos were liberated long before the battle of the sexes.

Dodge Luhan famously played a big role in establishing Taos as a place without boundaries when gender and artistic spirit were concerned. She offered shelter and encouragement to many famous women of the era: Georgia O’Keeffe, author Peggy Pond Church, printmaker Barbara Latham, writer Mary Austin, photographer Laura Gilpin, choreographer Martha Graham, author Willa Cather and her dear friend Frieda Lawrence, who came to Taos on the arm of her more famous husband, D.H. Lawrence, but who also found her own literary voice while living close by with her husband.

Some of her guests became lifelong Taos residents; some came in and just as quickly departed, but no doubt, Dodge Luhan’s famous parties helped inspire countless other women to join the ranks of the creative types.

Of course, the feminine creative spirit existed here long before East Coast socialites made it trendy. Taos Pueblo women had been painters, weavers and potters for 1.000 years in this valley.

In the worlds of art, music and literature, women are still drivers in the art scene, just as they were in the beginning.