art history assignment

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Writing Essays in Art History

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Art History Analysis – Formal Analysis and Stylistic Analysis

Typically in an art history class the main essay students will need to write for a final paper or for an exam is a formal or stylistic analysis.

A formal analysis is just what it sounds like – you need to analyze the form of the artwork. This includes the individual design elements – composition, color, line, texture, scale, contrast, etc. Questions to consider in a formal analysis is how do all these elements come together to create this work of art? Think of formal analysis in relation to literature – authors give descriptions of characters or places through the written word. How does an artist convey this same information?

Organize your information and focus on each feature before moving onto the text – it is not ideal to discuss color and jump from line to then in the conclusion discuss color again. First summarize the overall appearance of the work of art – is this a painting? Does the artist use only dark colors? Why heavy brushstrokes? etc and then discuss details of the object – this specific animal is gray, the sky is missing a moon, etc. Again, it is best to be organized and focused in your writing – if you discuss the animals and then the individuals and go back to the animals you run the risk of making your writing unorganized and hard to read. It is also ideal to discuss the focal of the piece – what is in the center? What stands out the most in the piece or takes up most of the composition?

A stylistic approach can be described as an indicator of unique characteristics that analyzes and uses the formal elements (2-D: Line, color, value, shape and 3-D all of those and mass).The point of style is to see all the commonalities in a person’s works, such as the use of paint and brush strokes in Van Gogh’s work. Style can distinguish an artist’s work from others and within their own timeline, geographical regions, etc.

Methods & Theories To Consider:

Expressionism

Instructuralism

Postmodernism

Social Art History

Biographical Approach

Poststructuralism

Museum Studies

Visual Cultural Studies

Stylistic Analysis Example:

The following is a brief stylistic analysis of two Greek statues, an example of how style has changed because of the “essence of the age.” Over the years, sculptures of women started off as being plain and fully clothed with no distinct features, to the beautiful Venus/Aphrodite figures most people recognize today. In the mid-seventh century to the early fifth, life-sized standing marble statues of young women, often elaborately dress in gaily painted garments were created known as korai. The earliest korai is a Naxian women to Artemis. The statue wears a tight-fitted, belted peplos, giving the body a very plain look. The earliest korai wore the simpler Dorian peplos, which was a heavy woolen garment. From about 530, most wear a thinner, more elaborate, and brightly painted Ionic linen and himation. A largely contrasting Greek statue to the korai is the Venus de Milo. The Venus from head to toe is six feet seven inches tall. Her hips suggest that she has had several children. Though her body shows to be heavy, she still seems to almost be weightless. Viewing the Venus de Milo, she changes from side to side. From her right side she seems almost like a pillar and her leg bears most of the weight. She seems be firmly planted into the earth, and since she is looking at the left, her big features such as her waist define her. The Venus de Milo had a band around her right bicep. She had earrings that were brutally stolen, ripping her ears away. Venus was noted for loving necklaces, so it is very possibly she would have had one. It is also possible she had a tiara and bracelets. Venus was normally defined as “golden,” so her hair would have been painted. Two statues in the same region, have throughout history, changed in their style.

Compare and Contrast Essay

Most introductory art history classes will ask students to write a compare and contrast essay about two pieces – examples include comparing and contrasting a medieval to a renaissance painting. It is always best to start with smaller comparisons between the two works of art such as the medium of the piece. Then the comparison can include attention to detail so use of color, subject matter, or iconography. Do the same for contrasting the two pieces – start small. After the foundation is set move on to the analysis and what these comparisons or contrasting material mean – ‘what is the bigger picture here?’ Consider why one artist would wish to show the same subject matter in a different way, how, when, etc are all questions to ask in the compare and contrast essay. If during an exam it would be best to quickly outline the points to make before tackling writing the essay.

Compare and Contrast Example:

Stele of Hammurabi from Susa (modern Shush, Iran), ca. 1792 – 1750 BCE, Basalt, height of stele approx. 7’ height of relief 28’

Stele, relief sculpture, Art as propaganda – Hammurabi shows that his law code is approved by the gods, depiction of land in background, Hammurabi on the same place of importance as the god, etc.

Top of this stele shows the relief image of Hammurabi receiving the law code from Shamash, god of justice, Code of Babylonian social law, only two figures shown, different area and time period, etc.

Stele of Naram-sin , Sippar Found at Susa c. 2220 - 2184 bce. Limestone, height 6'6"

Stele, relief sculpture, Example of propaganda because the ruler (like the Stele of Hammurabi) shows his power through divine authority, Naramsin is the main character due to his large size, depiction of land in background, etc.

Akkadian art, made of limestone, the stele commemorates a victory of Naramsin, multiple figures are shown specifically soldiers, different area and time period, etc.

Iconography

Regardless of what essay approach you take in class it is absolutely necessary to understand how to analyze the iconography of a work of art and to incorporate into your paper. Iconography is defined as subject matter, what the image means. For example, why do things such as a small dog in a painting in early Northern Renaissance paintings represent sexuality? Additionally, how can an individual perhaps identify these motifs that keep coming up?

The following is a list of symbols and their meaning in Marriage a la Mode by William Hogarth (1743) that is a series of six paintings that show the story of marriage in Hogarth’s eyes.

• Man has pockets turned out symbolizing he has lost money and was recently in a fight by the state of his clothes.
• Lap dog shows loyalty but sniffs at woman’s hat in the husband’s pocket showing sexual exploits.
• Black dot on husband’s neck believed to be symbol of syphilis.
• Mantel full of ugly Chinese porcelain statues symbolizing that the couple has no class.
• Butler had to go pay bills, you can tell this by the distasteful look on his face and that his pockets are stuffed with bills and papers.
• Card game just finished up, women has directions to game under foot, shows her easily cheating nature.
• Paintings of saints line a wall of the background room, isolated from the living, shows the couple’s complete disregard to faith and religion.
• The dangers of sexual excess are underscored in the Hograth by placing Cupid among ruins, foreshadowing the inevitable ruin of the marriage.
• Eventually the series (other five paintings) shows that the woman has an affair, the men duel and die, the woman hangs herself and the father takes her ring off her finger symbolizing the one thing he could salvage from the marriage.

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Art history

Special topics in art history, the seeing america project, prehistoric art, ancient mediterranean + europe, medieval europe + byzantine, art of the islamic world 640 to now, europe 1300 - 1800, art of the americas to world war i, europe 1800 - 1900, modernisms 1900-1980, global cultures 1980–now, art of asia, art of africa, art of oceania, for teachers, a brief introduction to art history, explore art from around the world.

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The Writing Place

Resources – how to write an art history paper, introduction to the topic.

There are many different types of assignments you might be asked to do in an art history class. The most common are a formal analysis and a stylistic analysis. Stylistic analyses often involve offering a comparison between two different works. One of the challenges of art history writing is that it requires a vocabulary to describe what you see when you look at a painting, drawing, sculpture or other media. This checklist is designed to explore questions that will help you write these types of art history papers.

Features of An Art History Analysis Paper

Features of a formal analysis paper.

This type of paper involves looking at compositional elements of an object such as color, line, medium, scale, and texture. The goal of this kind of assignment it to demonstrate how these elements work together to produce the whole art object. When writing a formal analysis, ask yourself:

• What is the first element of the work that the audience’s eye captures?
• What materials were used to create the object?
• What colors and textures did the artist employ?
• How do these function together to give the object its overall aesthetic look?

Tips on Formal Analysis

• Describe the piece as if your audience has not seen it.
• Be detailed.
• The primary focus should be on description rather than interpretation.

Features of a Stylistic / Comparative Analysis

Similar to a formal analysis, a stylistic analysis asks you to discuss a work in relation to its stylistic period (Impressionism, Fauvism, High Renaissance, etc.). These papers often involve a comparative element (such as comparing a statue from Early Antiquity to Late Antiquity). When writing a stylistic analysis, ask yourself:

• How does this work fit the style of its historical period? How does it depart from the typical style?
• What is the social and historical context of the work? When was it completed?
• Who was the artist? Who commissioned it? What does it depict?
• How is this work different from other works of the same subject matter?
• How have the conventions (formal elements) for this type of work changed over time?

Tips for Stylistic and Comparative Analysis

• In a comparison, make a list of similarities and differences between the two works. Try to establish what changes in the art world may account for the differences.
• Integrate discussions of formal elements into your stylistic analysis.
• This type of paper can involve more interpretation than a basic formal analysis.
• Focus on context and larger trends in art history.

A Quick Practice Exercise...

Practice - what is wrong with these sentences.

The key to writing a good art history paper involves relating the formal elements of a piece to its historical context.  Can you spot the errors in these sentences? What would make the sentences better?

• “Courbet’s The Stone Breakers  is a good painting because he uses texture.”
• “Duchamp’s work is in the Dada style while Dali’s is Surrealist.”
• “Pope Julius II commissioned the work.”
• “Gauguin uses color to draw in the viewer’s eye.”

Answers for Practice Sentences

• Better: “Courbet’s  The Stone Breakers  is a radical painting because the artist used a palette knife to create a rough texture on the surface.”
• Better: “The use of everyday objects in Duchamp’s work reflects the Dada style while Dali’s incorporation of absurd images into his work demonstrates a Surrealist style.”
• Better: “In 1505, Pope Julius II commissioned the sculpture for his tomb.”
• Better: “The first element a viewer notices is the bold blue of the sky in Gauguin’s painting.”

Adapted by Ann Bruton, with the help of Isaac Alpert, From:

The Writing Center at UNC Handouts ( http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/art-history/ )

The Writing Center at Hamilton College ( http://www.hamilton.edu/writing/writing-resources/writing-an-art-history-paper ) 

Click here to return to the “Writing Place Resources” main page.

AP ART HISTORY SUMMER ASSIGNMENT

PART 1 OF 2: Use the Gardner introduction below to complete the following assignments at home:

The Questions Art Historians Ask

The Words Art Historians Use*

Templates for both of these assignments can be accessed below. They are due on the first day of class, and are intended to familiarize you with the field of art history as well as some of the terms you might see throughout the course. These assignments should not take long, but you should be thoughtful in their completion. 

The Words Art Historians Use

Gardner introduction.

Use this to complete the Questions Art Historians Ask and Words Art Historians use assignments. 

PART 2 of 2 : Complete the Global Prehistory Lecture Notes and Global Prehistory Artworks Notes assignments HERE.

You will need to complete BOTH of these assignments by the first day of class, as you will be quizzed on the Global Prehistory curriculum during your first week of school.

For the Lecture Notes , you can use the provided Notes Set template or take notes in another method that works best for you. A lecture video and accompanying Google Slides presentation have been provided for you. Copying and pasting the contents of the Slides is NOT a viable method of note-taking. 

For the Artworks Notes, you can use the provided Notes Set template or take notes in another method that works best for you. Copying and pasting the contents of the Khan Academy articles (or any other Internet source) is NOT a viable method of note-taking.

OPTIONAL: If you can, I highly recommend taking some time this summer to visit an art museum, gallery, public installation, etc. after completing these assignments: I'd be interested to see whether you begin to think of art in a different way after this brief, but thoughtful introduction. 

I can't wait to meet all of you in the Fall! Until then, enjoy your break!

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Art history writing guide.

I. Introduction II. Writing Assignments III. Discipline-Specific Strategies IV. Keep in Mind V. Appendix

Introduction

At the heart of every art history paper is a close visual analysis of at least one work of art. In art history you are building an argument about something visual. Depending on the assignment, this analysis may be the basis for an assignment or incorporated into a paper as support to contextualize an argument. To guide students in how to write an art history paper, the Art History Department suggests that you begin with a visual observation that leads to the development of an interpretive thesis/argument. The writing uses visual observations as evidence to support an argument about the art that is being analyzed.

Writing Assignments

You will be expected to write several different kinds of art history papers. They include:

• Close Visual Analysis Essays
• Close Visual Analysis in dialogue with scholarly essays
• Research Papers

Close Visual Analysis pieces are the most commonly written papers in an introductory art history course. You will have to look at a work of art and analyze it in its entirety. The analysis and discussion should provide a clearly articulated interpretation of the object. Your argument for this paper should be backed up with careful description and analysis of the visual evidence that led you to your conclusion.

Close Visual Analysis in dialogue with scholarly essays combines formal analysis with close textual analysis.

Research papers range from theoretic studies to critical histories. Based on library research, students are asked to synthesize analyses of the scholarship in relation to the work upon which it is based.

Discipline-Specific Strategies

As with all writing assignment, a close visual analysis is a process. The work you do before you actually start writing can be just as important as what you consider when writing up your analysis.

Conducting the analysis :

• Ask questions as you are studying the artwork. Consider, for example, how does each element of the artwork contribute to the work's overall meaning. How do you know? How do elements relate to each other? What effect is produced by their juxtaposition
• Use the criteria provided by your professor to complete your analysis. This criteria may include forms, space, composition, line, color, light, texture, physical characteristics, and expressive content.

Writing the analysis:

• Develop a strong interpretive thesis about what you think is the overall effect or meaning of the image.
• Ground your argument in direct and specific references to the work of art itself.
• Describe the image in specific terms and with the criteria that you used for the analysis. For example, a stray diagonal from the upper left corner leads the eye to...
• Create an introduction that sets the stage for your paper by briefly describing the image you are analyzing and by stating your thesis.
• Explain how the elements work together to create an overall effect. Try not to just list the elements, but rather explain how they lead to or support your analysis.
• Contextualize the image within a historical and cultural framework only when required for an assignment. Some assignments actually prefer that you do not do this. Remember not to rely on secondary sources for formal analysis. The goal is to see what in the image led to your analysis; therefore, you will not need secondary sources in this analysis. Be certain to show how each detail supports your argument.
• Include only the elements needed to explain and support your analysis. You do not need to include everything you saw since this excess information may detract from your main argument.

Keep in Mind

• An art history paper has an argument that needs to be supported with elements from the image being analyzed.
• Avoid making grand claims. For example, saying "The artist wanted..." is different from "The warm palette evokes..." The first phrasing necessitates proof of the artist's intent, as opposed to the effect of the image.
• Make sure that your paper isn't just description. You should choose details that illustrate your central ideas and further the purpose of your paper.

If you find you are still having trouble writing your art history paper, please speak to your professor, and feel free to make an appointment at the Writing Center. For further reading, see Sylvan Barnet's A Short Guide to Writing about Art , 5th edition.

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Art History Resources

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Guidelines for Writing Art History Research Papers

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Writing a paper for an art history course is similar to the analytical, research-based papers that you may have written in English literature courses or history courses. Although art historical research and writing does include the analysis of written documents, there are distinctive differences between art history writing and other disciplines because the primary documents are works of art. A key reference guide for researching and analyzing works of art and for writing art history papers is the 10th edition (or later) of Sylvan Barnet’s work, A Short Guide to Writing about Art . Barnet directs students through the steps of thinking about a research topic, collecting information, and then writing and documenting a paper.

A website with helpful tips for writing art history papers is posted by the University of North Carolina.

Wesleyan University Writing Center has a useful guide for finding online writing resources.

The following are basic guidelines that you must use when documenting research papers for any art history class at UA Little Rock. Solid, thoughtful research and correct documentation of the sources used in this research (i.e., footnotes/endnotes, bibliography, and illustrations**) are essential. Additionally, these guidelines remind students about plagiarism, a serious academic offense.

Paper Format

Research papers should be in a 12-point font, double-spaced. Ample margins should be left for the instructor’s comments. All margins should be one inch to allow for comments. Number all pages. The cover sheet for the paper should include the following information: title of paper, your name, course title and number, course instructor, and date paper is submitted. A simple presentation of a paper is sufficient. Staple the pages together at the upper left or put them in a simple three-ring folder or binder. Do not put individual pages in plastic sleeves.

Documentation of Resources

The Chicago Manual of Style (CMS), as described in the most recent edition of Sylvan Barnet’s A Short Guide to Writing about Art is the department standard. Although you may have used MLA style for English papers or other disciplines, the Chicago Style is required for all students taking art history courses at UA Little Rock. There are significant differences between MLA style and Chicago Style. A “Quick Guide” for the Chicago Manual of Style footnote and bibliography format is found http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. The footnote examples are numbered and the bibliography example is last. Please note that the place of publication and the publisher are enclosed in parentheses in the footnote, but they are not in parentheses in the bibliography. Examples of CMS for some types of note and bibliography references are given below in this Guideline. Arabic numbers are used for footnotes. Some word processing programs may have Roman numerals as a choice, but the standard is Arabic numbers. The use of super script numbers, as given in examples below, is the standard in UA Little Rock art history papers.

The chapter “Manuscript Form” in the Barnet book (10th edition or later) provides models for the correct forms for footnotes/endnotes and the bibliography. For example, the note form for the FIRST REFERENCE to a book with a single author is:

1 Bruce Cole, Italian Art 1250-1550 (New York: New York University Press, 1971), 134.

But the BIBLIOGRAPHIC FORM for that same book is:

Cole, Bruce. Italian Art 1250-1550. New York: New York University Press. 1971.

The FIRST REFERENCE to a journal article (in a periodical that is paginated by volume) with a single author in a footnote is:

2 Anne H. Van Buren, “Madame Cézanne’s Fashions and the Dates of Her Portraits,” Art Quarterly 29 (1966): 199.

The FIRST REFERENCE to a journal article (in a periodical that is paginated by volume) with a single author in the BIBLIOGRAPHY is:

Van Buren, Anne H. “Madame Cézanne’s Fashions and the Dates of Her Portraits.” Art Quarterly 29 (1966): 185-204.

If you reference an article that you found through an electronic database such as JSTOR, you do not include the url for JSTOR or the date accessed in either the footnote or the bibliography. This is because the article is one that was originally printed in a hard-copy journal; what you located through JSTOR is simply a copy of printed pages. Your citation follows the same format for an article in a bound volume that you may have pulled from the library shelves. If, however, you use an article that originally was in an electronic format and is available only on-line, then follow the “non-print” forms listed below.

B. Non-Print

Citations for Internet sources such as online journals or scholarly web sites should follow the form described in Barnet’s chapter, “Writing a Research Paper.” For example, the footnote or endnote reference given by Barnet for a web site is:

3 Nigel Strudwick, Egyptology Resources , with the assistance of The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University, 1994, revised 16 June 2008, http://www.newton.ac.uk/egypt/ , 24 July 2008.

If you use microform or microfilm resources, consult the most recent edition of Kate Turabian, A Manual of Term Paper, Theses and Dissertations. A copy of Turabian is available at the reference desk in the main library.

C. Visual Documentation (Illustrations)

Art history papers require visual documentation such as photographs, photocopies, or scanned images of the art works you discuss. In the chapter “Manuscript Form” in A Short Guide to Writing about Art, Barnet explains how to identify illustrations or “figures” in the text of your paper and how to caption the visual material. Each photograph, photocopy, or scanned image should appear on a single sheet of paper unless two images and their captions will fit on a single sheet of paper with one inch margins on all sides. Note also that the title of a work of art is always italicized. Within the text, the reference to the illustration is enclosed in parentheses and placed at the end of the sentence. A period for the sentence comes after the parenthetical reference to the illustration. For UA Little Rcok art history papers, illustrations are placed at the end of the paper, not within the text. Illustration are not supplied as a Powerpoint presentation or as separate .jpgs submitted in an electronic format.

Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream, dated 1893, represents a highly personal, expressive response to an experience the artist had while walking one evening (Figure 1).

The caption that accompanies the illustration at the end of the paper would read:

Figure 1. Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1893. Tempera and casein on cardboard, 36 x 29″ (91.3 x 73.7 cm). Nasjonalgalleriet, Oslo, Norway.

Plagiarism is a form of thievery and is illegal. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, to plagiarize is to “take and pass off as one’s own the ideas, writings, etc. of another.” Barnet has some useful guidelines for acknowledging sources in his chapter “Manuscript Form;” review them so that you will not be mguilty of theft. Another useful website regarding plagiarism is provided by Cornell University, http://plagiarism.arts.cornell.edu/tutorial/index.cfm

Plagiarism is a serious offense, and students should understand that checking papers for plagiarized content is easy to do with Internet resources. Plagiarism will be reported as academic dishonesty to the Dean of Students; see Section VI of the Student Handbook which cites plagiarism as a specific violation. Take care that you fully and accurately acknowledge the source of another author, whether you are quoting the material verbatim or paraphrasing. Borrowing the idea of another author by merely changing some or even all of your source’s words does not allow you to claim the ideas as your own. You must credit both direct quotes and your paraphrases. Again, Barnet’s chapter “Manuscript Form” sets out clear guidelines for avoiding plagiarism.

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Art History

Art bites: how a prada store sprang up on an abandoned highway.

“It’s almost like being a parent who experienced children growing up and going a direction they never intended,” Elmgreen said of the project.

By this point, you’ve probably seen the strange sight of a standalone Prada boutique in the remote desert—whether on Beyoncé’s Instagram, or The Simpsons. Berlin-based art duo Elmgreen & Dragset’s Prada Marfa is so ubiquitous, yet so misunderstood, that every day, tourists ask , “when does it open?” It doesn’t. That’s not the point. Since its construction in 2005, this work of architectural, pop-inspired land art on an abandoned stretch of US-90, 36 miles northwest of Marfa, Texas, has become the definitive case study in how social media has shifted the collective interface with public sculpture.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset started parsing the interconnections between art, architecture, and design together in 1995. In 2001, they mounted “Opening Soon/Powerless Structures, Fig. 242” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. The show’s main spectacle was a sign reading: “Opening Soon PRADA” on the gallery’s facade. People called Bonakdar with condolences.

That stunt kickstarted Prada Marfa . “This architectural entity of a luxury boutique had suddenly become so present in our culture,” Elmgreen remarked during the duo’s first return to the site in 2019 . Prada Marfa would critique consumerism by highlighting its absurdity through isolation.

Elmgreen and Dragset, Prada Marfa ( 2005) Photo: Rob Hann. Courtesy the Art Production Fund.

The duo tried and failed to find a hospitable site in Nevada. Instead, they linked up with New York-based Art Production Fund. Founder Yvonne Force Villareal, who has personal ties to Marfa , connected Elmgreen & Dragset with Ballroom Marfa. The two nonprofits secured funding—and land, lent by the family of the late Walter Alton “Slim” Brown. Elmgreen & Dragset liked Marfa because they felt luxury brands were ripping off the minimalism of Donald Judd, who transformed Marfa into an art destination.

The duo partnered with architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello to construct Prada Marfa from biodegradable adobe, plaster, and glass. Miuccia Prada let them copy Prada’s logo and interior design, and lent shoes and purses from the house’s Spring/Summer 2005 line.

The night after Prada Marfa unveiled, thieves looted it. Elmgreen & Dragset originally envisioned the building decaying, but they’ve since installed shatterproof windows and alarmed the inventory, even though the handbags have no bottoms, and the shoes all only fit right feet. Local celebrity Boyd Elder looks after the sculpture. Ballroom Marfa maintains it.

Prada Marfa vandalized. Photo: Rita Weigart, Marfa Public Radio.

Though the boutique is perpetually covered with graffiti, no vandal has measured up to Austin-based artist Joe Magnano, who papered it with TOM’s signage in 2014. The Texas Department of Transportation came after Prada Marfa around then too, deeming it an illegal advertisement after Playboy installed a neon bunny nearby. A steamed Elmgreen told Texas Monthly “This is an embarrassment for that office,” noting the work’s not meant to pimp Prada. Ballroom Marfa saved the day by making Prada Marfa a museum.

But, the work does function somewhat like an ad today. After Instagram launched in 2010,  Prada Marfa became one of social media’s elite selfie spots. “It’s almost like being a parent who experienced children growing up and going a direction they never intended,” Elmgreen said in 2019.

As much as Prada Marfa ‘s meaning has shifted, however, its appearance remains the same. “You come out here and the landscape, the collection, the way the bags are standing, is exactly the same,” Dragset added on that outing. “Nothing is ever like that.”

What’s the deal with Leonardo’s harpsichord-viola? Why were Impressionists obsessed with the color purple? Art Bites brings you a surprising fact, lesser-known anecdote, or curious event from art history. 

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How did Raygun qualify for the Olympics? Is she really the best Australia has to offer?

Since Australian breaker Rachael "Raygun" Gunn failed to score a single point in any of her Olympic bouts, many have asked how she qualified for the Games.

Fellow breaker and anthropologist Lucas Marie says she won her qualification "fair and square" last year, but African American man Malik Dixon has criticised the Olympic body for letting her in.

What's next?

Breaking will not be an event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games — a decision made before Raygun's performance.

The 2024 Paris Olympics marked breaking's debut as a sport at the global event, with 36-year-old lecturer and breaker Rachael "Raygun" Gunn representing Australia for the first time.

Having failed to win a single point in any of her Olympic bouts, Raygun quickly became a viral sensation.

The question on many people's minds now is: How did she even qualify?

Lucas Marie is a breaker who has competed, performed, taught and judged breaking competitions over the past 25 years. He's also an anthropologist who recently co-authored an article with Gunn.

He says the answer to that question is simple.

"There was an Oceania qualifier in which any B-boy or B-girl from Australia [or] New Zealand could enter, and that was in Sydney in October 2023," he told ABC News.

"And leading up to that, there were a lot of other events in which breakers were competing.

"She won those battles fair and square and won the qualification in Sydney.

"And it wasn't really a surprise to anyone. 

"She's been fairly consistent, winning or coming second or third at a lot of breaking events in Australia for the last five to 10 years."

Marie said there was nothing out of the ordinary about Raygun's performance.

"It's not like gymnastics where there's this kind of agreed-upon standard," he said.

"It's always had a rawness to it. It's always had an improvisational kind of quality. And I think looking different and trying different stuff has always been celebrated.

"And I think Raygun, in a way, was just expressing a core kind of hip hop trait in a way a lot of breakers do."

He described her efforts as bold.

"I thought — and this is how I judge a lot of breaking events — I thought, 'Oh, she's making some really interesting choices to mimic Australian animals.' And you can kind of see the choices that she's making in the moment."

Is she the best Australia has to offer?

Team Australia chef de mission Anna Meares insisted after Raygun's performance that she was the best breaker the country had to offer. But is this true?

"It's sometimes just who's performing better on the day," Marie said.

"And at the qualification event in which she won, and other events in which she's won, she performed better on that day and won the ticket.

"That doesn't mean she's the best. It doesn't really work like that.

"I think she's a great breaker. She won the qualification. She's won other events in the past, and she was a good representative for Australia at that competition."

Asked whether there were B-girls in Perth, regional Victoria or rural Brisbane who might have qualified but could not afford to travel to Sydney for the tryouts, Marie agreed this was possible.

"Of course, there's breakers all over the country that maybe should have been in that event, but they weren't."

Breaking will not carry over to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, a decision made before Raygun's battle.

Marie described this as sad.

"Maybe, based on the ratings, they'll reassess that and maybe allocate some medals to breaking," he said.

"I really hope that's the case, and I hope that for other breakers who want to compete in it as a dance sport."

Marie said that at the end of the day people should remember they were dealing with a human.

"As a friend of Rachael's, there's a human being who's getting a lot of negative attention," he said.

"I think people kind of miss that sometimes and forget the human aspect of all this."

'Toying with the culture'

Malik Dixon is an African American who has been living in Australia for more than a decade and is a Sydney University graduate.

He said Raygun made a total "mockery" out of breaking at the Olympics.

"She was dressed like a member of the cricket team or an Australian PE teacher, and from that point it just seemed like satire," Mr Dixon told ABC News.

"It just looked like somebody who was toying with the culture and didn't know how culturally significant it was being the first time in the Olympics and just how important it was to people who really cherish hip hop and one of the elements of hip hop, which is breakdancing.

"It made me think, was Borat her breakdancing coach?"

Mr Dixon said too many people felt entitled to African American culture.

"The African American space has been one where we've shared our community so much and without any restraints, any barriers, roadblocks, obstacles, any gatekeepers, that essentially what should have been African American cultural capital is just shared, which is cool," he said. 

"We like to share, right? 

"We shared 400 years of free labour.

"To see Rachael in her attempt to be a part of the culture just be grossly underwhelming made it seem like she didn't take it seriously."

Olympics body criticised for Raygun qualification

Mr Dixon criticised the body that qualified Raygun, saying she devalued breaking with her performance.

"Whatever governing body nominated her as Australia's entrant into the Olympics either did not understand the assignment or didn't really believe in the integrity or significance of breakdancing, because if they did they would just say, rather than disrespect the culture, we're just not ready to send an applicant this year."

He said Raygun was extremely audacious and not self-aware.

"You've got to know your role, know your position, know your limitation," he said. 

"And I think that part of privilege is saying that there are no limits to what I can do. 

"Part of privilege is having the authority to say that there are no limits and there are no requirements, there are no prerequisites to what I can do."

Raygun's degrees do not hold much water with Mr Dixon.

"Due to consumerism, this Foundational Black American product, which is hip hop, is global," he said.

"And even people who have no connection to any African Americans or any local or regional things that come out in these songs, they have become a part of the whole experience now.

"If I came in and said that I was an authority on Greek music and I was going against the grain of what the mainstream Greek musicians thought, or the school of thought, and I've said that I was the authority, people would check me on that.

"If I had a PhD in sprinting, does that qualify me to go against Noah Lyles? No, it doesn't."

He also doubts Raygun was the best breaker Australia had to offer.

"[There's] got to be somebody out here that's better than that! The kangaroo! The sprinkler! She did the sprinkler out there, man!" he said.

Should everybody just lighten up?

Should we lighten up? Mr Dixon does not believe so.

"Larrikinism is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card and to escape responsibility of how words or actions impact a hurt person," he said.

"But when the majority culture is offended, there's no playing around.

"This is a part of my culture, and I don't think Australians are in a place to tell me how I should feel about breakdancing being mocked on an international stage.

"People who don't have any or limited access to black people or hip hop culture now may see Rachael and her buffoonery as a representation of hip hop and black culture.

"People who were already side-eyeing breakdancing as an Olympic sport, Rachael Gunn has put the nail in that coffin.

"This might be the most viral clip of the whole Olympics. From a comedy standpoint, she's got it, but from an Olympics perspective, its regressive."

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Today in History: August 15, Woodstock music festival begins

The Associated Press

August 15, 2024, 12:00 AM

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Today is Thursday, Aug. 15, the 228th day of 2024. There are 138 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened in upstate New York; more than 460,000 people attended the three-day festival, which would become a watershed event in American music and culture.

Also on this date:

In 1057, Macbeth, King of Scots, was killed in battle by Malcolm, the eldest son of King Duncan, whom Macbeth had slain.

In 1914, the Panama Canal officially opened as the SS Ancon crossed the just-completed waterway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

In 1935, humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow in the Alaska Territory.

In 1947, India gained independence after nearly 200 years of British rule.

In 1961, as workers began constructing a Berlin Wall made of concrete, East German soldier Conrad Schumann leapt to freedom over a tangle of barbed wire.

In 1989, F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, one day after P.W. Botha resigned as the result of a power struggle within the National Party.

In 1998, 29 people were killed by a car bomb that tore apart the center of Omagh (OH’-mah), Northern Ireland; a splinter group calling itself the Real IRA claimed responsibility.

In 2003, bouncing back from the largest blackout in U.S. history, cities from the Midwest to Manhattan restored power to tens of millions of people.

In 2017, President Donald Trump, who’d faced harsh criticism for initially blaming deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on “many sides,” told reporters that there were “very fine people on both sides” of the confrontation and that groups protesting against the white supremacists were “also very violent.” (In between those statements, at the urging of aides, Trump had offered a more direct condemnation of white supremacists.)

In 2021, the Taliban regained control of the Afghan capital of Kabul after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country.

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Jim Dale is 89. Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is 86. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is 86. Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 80. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 78. Actor Phyllis Smith is 75. Britain’s Princess Anne is 74. Actor Tess Harper is 74. Actor Zeljko Ivanek (ZEHL’-koh eh-VAHN’-ehk) is 67. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio is 62. Film director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (ihn-YAH’-ee-tu) is 61. Philanthropist Melinda French Gates is 60. Actor Debra Messing is 56. Actor Anthony Anderson is 54. Actor Ben Affleck is 52. Olympic gold medal beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings is 46. Rock singer Joe Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) is 35. Actor Jennifer Lawrence is 34.

Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

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50 years ago in Expo history: Bustown USA? The fair’s many tourist lines certainly gave that impression

One inescapable sight around Expo ’74: Buses, buses everywhere.

About 90 bus lines – including Contintental Trailways, Greyhound and Pacific Railways – had been “chauffeuring passengers around Spokane, making the city seem like a giant terminal,” The Spokesman-Review wrote.

And that didn’t even count the city’s own transit buses. Numerous bus lines from far-flung places had converged on Spokane, including, for instance, the Oklahoma Transportation Company of Oklahoma City, which ran “an average of two buses in Spokane every weekend.”

Canada was well-represented on the clogged city streets, with the Vancouver Island Coach Lines and the Pacific Western Transportation Company of Calgary and Edmonton, to name just two.

Then there were all the charter buses, bringing in tour groups and performers.

The result? “The chances of a motorist driving through Spokane this summer without seeing at least one bus have been almost nil.”

From 100 years ago: The “mystery woman” whose photo had been on the front page of The S-R the day before was finally identified.

She was Viola Dearing, a widow from Clarkston.

Or was she?

A certain Mrs. Kignor from Clarkston called police and said that she recognized the photo, and that Dearing boarded at her home in Clarkston.

Kignor said Dearing had left the house Tuesday to look for work and have lunch with friends, and she hadn’t heard from her since.

She had been “thought to be suffering from some kind of stupor or nervous disorder.”

The identification was still not 100% certain.

Friends from Clarkston were planning to make the trip to Spokane to see the mystery woman in person.

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Creative Assessments for Creative Art History Teaching

Leah McCurdy

August 23, 2019

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Pedagogical evolution and innovation in art history increase student engagement and ‘buy-in.’ Innovations also keep instruction from feeling stale for both the students and instructors. Innovation also can remind us why we keep walking into the classroom.  An AHTR Weekly post by Cara Smulevitz from April 2018 about her move from the traditional “high-stakes exams + research paper model” to a structure focused on “multi-option creative assessments” helped to bring me out of an existential teaching spiral of doom last spring. 

A couple years earlier, I had found myself googling something like ‘how do I teach nonwestern art history.’ As a recent PhD in anthropological archaeology, I felt unprepared returning to the arena of my undergraduate art history degree. Through that search, I found AHTR. The lesson plans were invaluable as a starting point and gave me confidence to design an introductory nonwestern survey that wouldn’t just sound like an anthropological tour of cultures. In exploring AHTR further, I found a platform focused on the types of pedagogical innovation that I had been striving for since I started teaching anthropology and archaeology as a grad student. 

Addressing students’ needs

Like many in the AHTR community, I’ve tried to shake things up. Most of my students are studio or graphic design majors, required to take art history courses by their degree plans. (They often phrase it as being “forced” to learn art history.) I’ve been increasingly dissatisfied with what value traditional slide identification assessments offer for student learning. In my experience, they serve the grade much more than they serve insight, practice, or engagement. Adhering to a learner-centered approach, I regularly assign a participatory activity I call #hints for which students create hypothetical social media hashtags about artworks that they submit on index cards with brief explanations. They continually surprise me with their wit and creativity. I highlight some the best #hints when reviewing previous material and as actual hints on assessments. This gives the students a sense of ownership over the course and we always get a good laugh. I’ve also found that students make connections to contemporary media that I would not have considered. For example, I learned about the interesting appropriation of ancient Jomon flame rim vessels of Japan in the video game Zelda: Breath of the Wild . These #hints are one of the inspirations for my newly developed course entitled “Ancient Art in Contemporary Visual Culture.”

In terms of assessment, several semesters ago I implemented what I call VIZ IDs , or visual identifications, as an option on traditional slide ID tests. Students sketch an artwork and label facets of its significance according to a series of ‘landmarks’ highlighted in lecture. Visually minded students often struggle with the text-based memorization requirements of the slide ID but excel at recalling and visualizing important aesthetic or compositional qualities that relate to meaning. For studio and graphic design majors, the VIZ ID option helps them to visually engage with historic artworks in ways that can impact their own art making and increase the relevance they attribute to art history.

As an alternative to writing a final paper, I’ve offered art majors the option of producing an artwork and an academically written artist statement inspired by their experience in the class. It took me several semesters to situate the guidelines and rubrics for these projects comfortably. But since the beginning, I have been blown away by how students can represent their learning to such a better degree when given the opportunity to follow their preferred mode of expression. Students are still required to meet academic writing standards, such as citing sources and presenting a point of view, but this alternative allows them to focus on the type of writing that will be most relevant to them in the future. I started an online project exhibition called UTA Art History Matters to show off many of these projects with excerpts from artist statements. Glass arts, digital illustrations, research papers, and educational activities mingle in that exhibition to demonstrate the positive impact art history education can have for all students who make their way into our classrooms. 

License to experiment 

Fast forward to last spring and the existential spiral. I had just finished grading the first test for an intermediate course on ancient Egypt and the Near East. That class was engaged and participatory, but, inevitably, memorization-based assessments bring out the worst in many students (anxiety, apathy, anger, etc.). I sought help from AHTR and found Cara’s post. She described the creative options she offered to her students and the types of submissions she received. Following Cara’s lead, I offered my students four application project options that they could submit as a replacement of the last exam of the semester. In addition to the remix (or mashup), brief research essay, and documentary video options presented by Cara, I also offered an exhibition design option. All options required an academic document discussing their project with references to class discussions and external sources.  

About half the class chose to submit a project replacement. Those who chose to stick with the exam said that it was easier, and they were more familiar with the expectations. The challenge to be creative and apply one’s understanding can be daunting. For many students, it seems more straightforward to memorize titles, artists, period, etc. But learning outcomes can be superficial and fleeting. Memorized detail often doesn’t stick long term. 

Almost all who submitted project replacements chose the remix/mashup option. Many of them submitted creative, well-considered, and contextualized applications of class discussions, demonstrating that their experience in the course reached beyond surface learning. Some students struggled with articulating their ideas and others with following directions. These are larger issues that I don’t think undermine the success of the assessment strategy. The students that chose the application challenge found an opportunity to combine their art-making skills with class content that increased the likelihood they could be successful and earn a grade they would be happy with. 

Results and reflections

Since first using Cara’s strategy in the spring, I’ve also implemented it in a 5-week upper level summer course. I assigned students a series of application projects of increasing difficulty and a final project ‘exhibition,’ where students present an improved and expanded version of a previously submitted project and present it to the class. In addition to the options described above, students could also choose to write public blog posts, create physical art objects and artist statements, or develop an art education activity for a target grade level. For each option, students submitted an academic paper with references to demonstrate their understanding of course themes and relevant artworks. Most studio or graphic design majors chose to make art objects or write blog posts. Most art history majors chose to write research papers or create exhibition designs. These projects allowed them to practice, demonstrate, and hone skills that are directly relevant to their interests, while upholding academic art history standards of writing and attribution. 

In terms of course grades, the projects are weighted to encourage improvement, based on formative feedback, and to not overly penalize students with less experience in art making or writing. To ensure that grades reflect learning outcomes relevant to art history, I try to develop rubrics that do not focus on artistic merit but on the demonstration of understanding of course content and improvement. Thus, feedback is crucial and consumes most of my grading time.  

Students in this recent course have once again blown me away. They have pursued themes of cultural appropriation, authenticity in art, and art world ethics  through their own lens. Their perspective and creative interpretations have also allowed me to continue to learn more about these topics, and I plan to use artworks created by students of this semester as examples for discussion the next time I teach this course.. That is one of the most satisfying and valuable results of my move to creative assessment.  This cycle makes the course itself a creative endeavor.

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4 responses to “Creative Assessments for Creative Art History Teaching”

Wonderful ideas here! Thanks so much. I’d love to know more about the #hints activity. Could you give a few examples of what the students came up with? And is this all done just by writing on the index cards, or done online? Thanks again!

Thanks, Elise. #hints is one of my students’ favorites. They love seeing their #hint on the review and quiz slides. I experimented with having them submit on a social media site or online but it just encouraged students to be on their devices in class (which I find exceedingly annoying, though I know others are less irritated by it). I use the index cards as a way to take attendance and to assess participation each class session (thus, why I don’t use an LMS discussion board type submission). So when it is a #hints day, I ask them to provide the #hint, the artwork details that it relates to (as a way to practice remembering that info), and a brief explanation of why the hashtag works for that artwork. I started asking for the explanation because they pull from song lyrics, movies, and games that I’m not familiar with. I choose those that hit the mark the best to share with the rest of the class. I’ve found this works for me but I know there are many other ways to incorporate the #hints idea.

There are so many great examples. The ones that I have on my mind right now relate to early African arts from my large nonwestern survey.

Running Woman Rock Art Painting from Tassili N’ajjer, Algeria: #WWForestD?(as a hint to the title of “running”); #footloose (because it probably depicts dancing more than running); #simbasuncle (because it depicts SCARification).

Benin Kingdom Bronze Plaque depicting Warrior Chief and Attendants: #squad (based on the visual qualities of the chief and attendants, linking to the title of the work); #largerthanlife (because it is one of our first examples to highlight hierarchy of scale); #cameandtookit (because I highlight the British Punitive Expedition that resulted in these plaques and other Benin artifacts being in the British Museum collection).

Other examples from my Egyptian and Near East class:

Neo-Assyrian Stele of Ashurnasirpal II: #slampoetry (because he is depicted doing the Assyrian snapping gesture of worship)

Throne of King Tutankhamun: #laz-e-boy (referring to the armchair style and King Tut’s posture and the relevance of his medical condition to the history of the 18th Dynasty).

I hope those examples offer a picture of the variability and fun that can comes from #hints. As I mention in the post, several students submitted #breathofthewild for a hint about the early Japanese Jomon vessels. When I brought it up the next class, almost everyone knew the reference.

Great idea, Leah, and I love what your students came up with!

So glad my post was helpful Leah! I love your ideas here– particularly the VizID option, which is such a great way to make the memorization element of art history assessments more meaningful. I’m definitely going to think about ways I can integrate that into some of my courses. Thanks for sharing these valuable ideas and reflections!

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Fall Travel Idea: The Southwestern City That’s a Gateway to Three National Parks

Get nature, art, history—and three national park sites—in one easy weekend getaway..

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Valle Grande is the largest meadow in Valles Caldera.

Courtesy on National Park Service

There are 15 national parks and monuments across New Mexico. Fifteen! But what’s really cool is that three are in very close proximity to each other—and to Santa Fe—which means you can visit all of them in one easy, beautiful trip.

On a recent long weekend, I plunked myself in art-filled Santa Fe (part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network) and in between stops at interactive funhouse Meow Wolf, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, and other ideas from Afar’s list of the best things to do in Santa Fe , I headed out to explore the state’s special blend of nature and history, perfectly exemplified by the trio of Bandelier National Monument, Valles Caldera National Preserve, and Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

Word to the wise: The next free-entrance national park days are coming up September 28 and November 11, 2024—a good reason to start planning your fall trips now, whether with the family or solo . As if you needed another reason to visit these three national park sites.

Bandelier National Monument

Alcove House, 140 feet up from the floor of Frijoles Canyon, was home to about 25 Ancestral Pueblo people. Today, visitors can climb ladders to see it.

Courtesy of National Park Service

About a 50-minute drive northwest from Santa Fe, Bandelier is 33,000 acres of protected canyonlands and mesas known for well-preserved petroglyphs and cliff dwellings. The 1.4-mile Pueblo Loop Trail begins at the Bandelier National Monument Visitor Center, and it’s not to be missed. It leads you through remnants of ancient Pueblo villages and homes carved into the rocks, some of which you can enter. I was in awe as I climbed; hikers are welcome to ascend wooden ladders into the cool dark cubby holes (called cavates) that date back 500 to 700 years. About halfway through the trail, brave souls with no fear of heights—which rules me out—can opt for a bigger challenge: a series of long, steep ladders that snake a half mile along the side of a cliff to the Alcove House, a large semicircular dwelling 140 feet up from the floor of the canyon. There are many other trails to choose from, including the Falls Trail (which, as the name suggests, delivers you to a waterfall), and the long-haul, 22-mile Painted Cave trek (which also has a pretty self-explanatory name). And there are two campgrounds if you’d like to stay overnight. Check with park rangers before heading out; flood damage over the years has affected trails, and you’ll need the latest safety information.

Note that during peak daily hours of high season (roughly the end of June to mid-October), guests must leave their cars at an external visitor center and board a free shuttle into the park, a program launched to alleviate overcrowded parking lots.

Valles Caldera National Preserve

A 30-minute drive from Bandelier is a completely different type of scenery. This preserve, Valles Caldera , is the result of a volcanic eruption about 1.2 million years ago. The explosion scooped out a 14-mile-wide crater (or caldera) that’s now a flat expanse of grassy meadows ( valles in Spanish) surrounded by the Jemez Mountains. The land here has been used by various American Indian tribes for millennia: They hunted, fished, sourced obsidian for tools, and harvested plants for medicine. In the 1800s, the land was taken over by settlers for sheep grazing and cattle ranching. In the early- to mid-1900s, logging decimated the majority of the old-growth forest here. But since 2000, a government trust has focused on preservation and restoration, and today you’ll see grassy prairies, winding rivers, green forests on the volcanic dome, as well as elk, prairie dogs, bald eagles, and black bears among the wildlife. At night, you’ll see the heavens: Valles Caldera is an International Dark Sky Park, and the rangers host night hikes and sky-viewing events during full moons.

All Manhattan Project workers had to go through a security gate to enter the secret city. This is a re-creation of the original.

Photo by Billie Cohen

Manhattan Project National Historical Park

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park is just a 20-minute drive from Bandelier and Valles Caldera (and about 45 from Santa Fe), and once you’ve seen the other two parks (and even if you haven’t), it’ll quickly become clear why the U.S. government put Los Alamos where they put it. If it was the 1940s and you were looking for a secret, isolated spot to build a highly classified project like the atomic bomb, this swath of lonely, scrubby land surrounded by mountains was the place to do it.

The park is actually made up of three separate sites spread across the country: a former plutonium factory in Hanford, Washington; a former uranium-enriching complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the old research and lab complex in Los Alamos, New Mexico. The Los Alamos arm is often referred to as “Atomic City,” but it’s more like a college campus, and visitors can spend a full day wandering among historic buildings and museums.

Touring the campus is enlightening, but it’s also uncomfortable and incongruous. Bad things were created here. But then, so were 80 babies, in 1943 alone. By the visitor center, I rested in a gazebo overlooking a small, picturesque lake. I watched tourists pose for jokey selfies with a life-size bronze statue of Manhattan Project leaders Oppenheimer and General Groves. The history museum gift shop sells key chains and stickers printed with Oppenheimer’s pipe-smoking profile.

The chance to walk through history, though, is invaluable. The Bradbury Science Museum and the Los Alamos History Museum recount the bomb project from its beginnings through its aftermath (including spy stories, relics from tests, and replicas of the Little Boy and Fat Man atomic bombs). But I was most intrigued by all the information about everyday life described throughout the campus’s historic buildings on plaques and displays: the cottages where scientists and civilians lived, how phone calls were secured, the dinner soirees and wild dorm parties, the fact that Sears, Roebuck & Company complained about sending 400 catalogs to a single P.O. Box (because little did they know that all civilians who lived here shared the same address, for security purposes).

And if you’d like to walk through movie history, you can do that too. Oppenheimer was made here in 2022, and the National Park Service created a self-guided tour of filming locations via paper pamphlet or the NPS app .

For those wanting to know more about the scientific history side of things, nab a spot on the rare and popular “behind the fence” tours of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Held only a few times a year, they take guests to infamous spots including Pond Cabin, where Emilio Segrè's plutonium research team worked, and the Battleship Bunker, where scientists studied magnetic field disruptions and implosions.

Ten Thousand Waves hotel opened as a small bathhouse complex in 1981. Today it still has that Japanese onsen vibe.

Courtesy of Ten Thousand Waves

Where to stay in Santa Fe

• The long-standing Inn of the Five Graces , a Relais & Châteaux family-owned hotel, added an excellent spa in 2021. Like the rest of the hotel, its design features textiles and furnishings imported by the owners from such places as India, Afghanistan, and Morocco, as well as detailed tile mosaics in the bathroom and treatment rooms.
• The art-filled, historic La Fonda Hotel was an R&R escape for those sequestered at Los Alamos (and is still a top getaway for visitors). Even if you don’t stay here, make time for a cocktail at its Bell Tower Rooftop Bar.
• The serene 20-acre, Japanese-styled Ten Thousand Waves is nestled in the high hills among Santa Fe’s piñons and junipers about a 15-minute drive from downtown. Splurge on the spa’s deep stone massage and salt scrubs, or opt for a warming herbal wrap with an add-on foot soak. The spa is open to nonguests, as is the worth-the-trip Izanami, which serves izakaya -style food using sustainably raised beef, pork, chicken, and organic vegetables.