Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GHOST RANCH
paint with o'keeffe's ghost
ABIQUIU, NEW MEXICO
Ghost Ranch is a magical sanctuary where the veil between heaven and
earth seems almost transparent.
—Lesley Poling-Kempes, author of
Ghost Ranch
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Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived to the ripe old age of 99, said her only regret about dying
was that she would never again be able to see the beautiful country of northern New Mexico.
“Unless,” she quipped, “the Indians are right and my spirit will walk here after I'm gone.”
Whether or not O'Keeffe's spirit is still walking Ghost Ranch, the 21,000-acre spread that
inspired her most famous paintings, depends on whom you talk to. She did request that her
body be cremated and that her ashes be scattered from the top of her beloved Pedernal Moun-
tain. In 1986, longtime friend Juan Hamilton hiked to the top of the mountain she immortal-
ized in so many paintings (she used to say that God told her if she painted Pedernal enough
times, he would give it to her) and let the famous painter's remains be carried off by the winds.
Georgia or not, the stark beauty of Ghost Ranch's high northern New Mexico desert still
inspires painters, including professionals and wannabes who come to Ghost Ranch for paint-
ing workshops. The Presbyterian-owned conference center sponsors its own classes (a recent
offering was “Bones and Blossoms: Drawing and Painting the Desert's Forms”) and leases
the facilities out to others such as Chris Zydel, an art therapist from Oakland, California, who
hosts “Painting from the Wild Heart” retreats every year (see sidebar).
Not that painting is the only type of workshop available at Ghost Ranch. You can choose
between classes in everything from photography to opera appreciation to paleontology. North
America's oldest dinosaur was discovered at one of Ghost Ranch's many paleontological digs,
and an IMAX movie on dinosaur digging was recently filmed there. The Ruth Hall Museum
of Paleontology is one of the ranch's two museums, along with the Florence Hawley Ellis Mu-
seum of Anthropology.
The motto of the world-famous institution is “Let our world change your world,” and
its mission is “to affect individual and social transformation through education.” To that end,
