A Visit to The Roundhouse

New Mexico has the oldest and the newest state capitol buildings in the country. The oldest is the long, low adobe Palace of the Governors on the plaza, which was built in 1609 and was used for centuries to house the government of New Spain, and then the territory and finally the state of New Mexico.

It now houses the New Mexico history museum.

The newest is The Roundhouse, built in the 1960s and renovated in the 1990s. It is actually round, to evoke the Zia sun symbol.

We went to the Roundhouse one afternoon recently, but not for any legislative purpose -- the legislature is in session for only two months in the winter (three months in odd years). The rest of the year the grand semi-circular Senate and House session rooms stand empty. We could go in each chamber and sit in the empty gallery, though. That was cool.

But the capitol is still a busy place even without the legislators in session. People come to see the art.

The capitol has a huge display of contemporary artists, all exclusively New Mexicans. The permanent exhibits hang on the walls of the central rotunda, and down each corridor and in every public room.

It's impressive, and it's all free. All of the art is donated. I found it a little difficult to enjoy only because nothing was curated into time periods or styles or collections the way a museum would do it. It was all random, with weavings hung next to pencil sketches next to giant wall sculptures next to the ladies room door.

This is a working building with doors and committee rooms and drinking fountains and copier machine rooms, with art all over the place in between. But it was still extraordinary to view so much contemporary New Mexican talent on display in the circular hallways and under the dome of the rotunda.

And then I came around a curve and saw a triptych from one of my favorite artists, John Nieto.

His style is dramatic, with saturated colors, and often with coyotes in intense poses. In these three giant panels, the man wrapped in a blanket is stoic and blank faced, it's the coyotes whose eyes are so alive I can tell what they're thinking. Impossible to see in the tiny pixels of your computer screen, but so vivid and overpowering up close on a 12 foot wide three part display. Wow.

When my great-niece Michaela was here visiting in August we saw Nieto's work in a Canyon Road gallery we visited. I fell in love with one of his coyote paintings, and she so wanted me to get it, but ouch, way too expensive. She scouted out prints or posters of his for me, which I really appreciated, but it's the size and scale and intensity of his big paintings like this that make his work so compelling to me.

So I'll just have to run for state Senate, get elected and then sworn in, so I can have a job where I can see this art work every day from an office in the state capitol.

New Mexico is the only state that has a completely unpaid volunteer legislature. But they do get meals and hotels paid for during the two months they are in session. Could I get that stipend even if I live in Santa Fe, sleep in my own bed and eat at home? Should I start working on my platform?