Georgia O’Keeffe’s views of the New Mexico desert will be preserved thanks to a conservation plan
SANTA FE, New Mexico — A new conservation agreement will preserve land with sweeping desert views that inspired the work of 20th-century painter Georgia O’Keeffe and ensure visitors have access to an adjacent educational retreat, several pact partners announced Tuesday.
The initial phases of the plan establish a conservation easement on approximately 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) of land, owned by a charitable arm of the Presbyterian Church (USA), on the outskirts of the village of Abiquiu.
This easement extends across the reservoir’s waterfront and native grasslands to the doorstep of a detached house owned by O’Keeffe’s estate, a few miles from his larger home and studio in Abiquiu. Both houses are outside the conservation area and are separately owned and operated by the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe.
The view from the pastures should be familiar to even casual O’Keeffe enthusiasts – including desert washes, sandstone cliffs and the distant silhouette of Cerro Pedernal mountain.
“The brightly colored geology, the verdant meadows that slope down to the Chama River and Lake Abiquiu — all of this makes it a multifaceted place with enormous conservation value,” said Jonathan Hayden, executive director of the New Mexico Land Conservancy who helped negotiate the conservation plan and will oversee the easements.
Hayden said the voluntary plan protects against potential encroachment from modern development that could subdivide and transform the property, although there are no imminent proposals.
Lands located in an original easement have been the backdrop for movie sets for decades, including a recreation of wartime Los Alamos in the 2024 hit film “Oppenheimer,” on a temporary movie set that still exists.
The conservation agreement guarantees some continued access to film productions, as well as the preservation of traditional winter pastures for farmers who bring small herds down from the mountains when the snow arrives.
The state of New Mexico largely supports the initiative through a trust created by state lawmakers in 2023.
An approved $920,000 state grant is earmarked for easement surveys, transaction costs and a financial nest egg that the Presbyterian Church Foundation will use – while retaining land ownership – to support programming at the adjacent Ghost Ranch Education. & Retreat center and its use of the conservation area.
The center attracts about 10,000 visitors a year for overnight spiritual, artistic and literary retreats for people of all faiths, with twice as many day visitors, said the center’s CEO, David Evans.
Two initial phases of the conservation plan are part of a broader plan to protect more than 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) of the area through conservation easements and public land transfers, with support from at least one wildlife foundation. This would extend protections to the banks of the Chama River and preserve additional wildlife habitat.
Many Native American communities trace their ancestry to the region of northern New Mexico where O’Keeffe settled and explored the landscape in her work.
