Along with other centennial celebrations – Taos Society of Artists 100 years, San Francisco de Asis (St. Francis) church 200 years – this year marks the 300th anniversary of the Acequia de los Lovatos. The festivities occurred on September 20 exactly 300 years from the date that the acequia was officially documented.

The Lovato ditch is the oldest recorded ditch in the Taos Valley. The Taos News reported on its history. In 1715 a petition for a land grant reached Governor Flores Mogollon in Santa Fe. It was submitted by Francisca Antonio Gijosa, widow of Antonio Maya and the only woman in the Taos Valley to receive a Spanish land grant. On Sept. 20, 1715 when Taos Mayor Juan de la Mora Pineda identified the boundaries of the land grant in a letter to the governor, one of the borders was “east from the acequia, which was already in use”, named the “Acequia de los Lovatos.”

A major Mabel Dodge Luhan exhibit slated for 2016. The exhibition will be the first to showcase the impact of Mabel Dodge Luhan (1879-1962), and her circle of artist, writer, and activist friends, on shaping American Modernism. The exhibition is an exploration Mabel Dodge Luhan’s life and influence, within the context of early 20th century American history and the Southwest, and an exploration of how the tiny multicultural community of Taos became an important center of the modernist art movement.

On May 22, 2016, this landmark traveling exhibition opens at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos.

Composers are no strangers to the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. In 1931 Mabel hosted two prominent ones: Carlos Chavez and Leopold Stokowski. At the time both were revered: Chavez as Mexico’s greatest modern classical composers, Stokowski as the greatest American composer of his time. Known for popularizing classical music, the latter also performed and recorded compositions across the musical spectrum. His mission in Taos was to study and record Taos Pueblo songs. Ever open to new musical forms, Stokowski had traveled to Asia prior to staying with Mabel. He had always wanted to introduce aspects of eastern music to the western hemisphere.

Now, some ninety years later composer Marty Regan, currently residing in Taos as a Helene Wurlitzer Foundation Fellow, introduces a new flavor of Japanese music to Taos. On Sunday August 9th from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House conference center, he will present a concert of contemporary works for traditional Japanese instruments. Performing with him are internationally known guest artists Duo YUMENO: Yoko Reikano Kimura (koto/Japanese 13-string zither, and voice) and Hikaru Tamaki (violoncello). Regan himself will perform on the shakuhachi, the end-blown Japanese bamboo flute

This period marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Taos Society of Artists. On July 15, 1915 Ernest Blumenschein, Bert Geer Phillips, Eanger Irving Couse, Oscar Berninghaus, Joseph Henry Sharp and William Herbert “Buck” Dunton created the Taos Society of Artists (TSA). The organization had several goals, among them to develop a high standard of art and, through exhibitions, to bring their art before the public.