… the very happy Ms. Perin McNelis, a Patagonia resident and familiar face to patrons of the Borderlands Restoration Native Plants program. Thanks to the generosity of local artist Bob Bergier, his original acrylic “Sonoita Creek” will find a place of honor in the to-be-built home of Perin’s dreams.
Interested in the backstory that led to her lucky day? It began in the spring of 2022 when the Museum collaborated with the Patagonia Creative Arts Association to display Bob’s work as a featured “Artist-in-Residence”.
As a Museum board member and a 4th generation Patagonian, Bergier’s interest in the community led him to offer a painting to be raffled off as a fundraiser for the Museum’s student docent scholarship program. Needless to say, our answer was a resounding “YES, PLEASE”.
Ticket sales began at the grand opening of the show on April 22nd and culminated with the drawing on June 3rd. It’s obvious from the smile on her face that Perin was thrilled, not only with the painting but, as she commented, with the opportunity to support a program that benefits the youth of our community.
The Museum Board deeply appreciates Bergier’s donation as well as the support coming from the many members of our community who purchased raffle tickets throughout the month. Those contributions will replenish our scholarship fund which was diminished due to a lack of fundraising opportunities during the pandemic years.
The scholarship program, which was started by Tom and Linda Shore, is in its fourth year with Nick Dekhtyar and Elizabeth Urias currently serving in the student docent role. Prior scholarship recipients include Patagonia High School graduates Gianna Martin, Hannah Young, Brianna Young and Carolina Quiroz.
Many thanks to all of you who joined us at the Lochiel Schoolhouse on Saturday, April 4th to celebrate the end of a 12 year long restoration project. Beautiful weather, a couple of hundred kindred souls, great food and good music made it the perfect celebration.
The highlight of the event for the Museum team is that we had lots of Lochiel alumni in attendance. Listening to them share their stories was priceless. Their obvious love for the little red schoolhouse made the hundreds of volunteer hours worthwhile!
Opening night at the latest Art + History exhibit featuring the work of Robert Bergier was a huge success. Good food, lots of friendly faces and a great display of one-of-a-kind original art. It was a truly delightful gathering.
Bob who currently serves as the VP of the Museum’s board, is a 4th generation Patagonian. He earned a BS in Art at Northern Arizona University and returned to run the family ranch following a stint in the Army. Bob’s work which will be on display at the Museum through the end of May is a combination of landscapes and portraits, all based on memories that matter to him.
A celebration was held on April 2th, 2022 marking the end of a twelve-year-long restoration project. A brief history of how that milestone came about. The Lochiel Schoolhouse is located in Lochiel, Arizona, along the international border with Mexico. This location served as a port of entry until 1983 and was formerly known as La Noria. It was once a thriving community but since the late 20th century has declined to less than 10 people.
The Lochiel School District can be traced back to 1882 when it was known as the La Noria School District. The schoolhouse building was deeded to the school district in 1911 by Clotilde Carey who owned the homestead where the school building was located. This one-room adobe schoolhouse served the community until circa 1983 when the Lochiel School District was abandoned to the Patagonia Elementary School District. Shortly thereafter the school district offered the property for sale under the condition that the schoolhouse is maintained as a historic building. No offers were received at the time.
In January 2009, the Patagonia Elementary School District called for a special meeting on the Lochiel Schoolhouse after receiving strong recommendations from Maureen and Onofre De La Ossa to do so. Maureen and Onofre lived nearby at the San Antonio Ranch and both attended the school as students. Attending that meeting in January 2009 were Patagonia neighbors German Quiroga and Ralph Schmitt who decided after the meeting to organize a group to preserve and maintain the Lochiel Schoolhouse. Fortunately, there was an organization already established, The Patagonia Museum, whose mission was to preserve and collect the history and culture of eastern Santa Cruz County which included the San Rafael Valley where the schoolhouse is situated. Ralph and German joined The Patagonia Museum as officers in June of 2009 with the intent to preserve the Lochiel Schoolhouse.
The Lochiel Schoolhouse project began in September 2010 when the Patagonia Elementary School District leased the property to The Patagonia Museum. The rental agreement stipulates that the Museum maintain and insure the property as payment for the use of the schoolhouse property.
After signing the lease agreement with the Patagonia School District in September 2010, workdays were established on a monthly basis, usually the last Saturday of the month. Over 200 individuals would volunteer their time to do whatever was required at the time. Initially, there was a lot of cleanup of debris and broken windows.
Windows and doors were installed, stucco was patched, new wood flooring was installed and the work continues today to maintain this historic building for future generations.
Martha was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York which is a long way from Patagonia. It was a month-long clay work workshop in Greenwich Village when she was sixteen that began her long journey into the world of clay. In the late seventies, she studied and became an apprentice potter to Barbara Clark at the Cascabel Clayworks outside of Benson, Arizona. Not long after, she moved to the small town of Patagonia where she opened her studio, Shooting Star Pottery.
If you missed opening night, you missed a fun party. The good news is her work will be on display at the Museum until the middle of April.
The museum is open on Thursday – Sunday from 2 until 4.