by Steven Carlson - President & Curator
As 2024 concludes and we look forward to our next exhibits in 2025 we at the Effie Anderson Smith Museum and Archive look back with gratitude to all of you who attended one or both of our spring and fall Arizona exhibits in Willcox and Douglas, and the many new friends we met this spring at our first ever New Mexico exhibit in Deming! All three towns were key in Effie’s life as an artist and pioneer settler of both the New Mexico and Arizona Territories in the 1890s.
It was wonderful to bring Effie’s art ‘home’ to these three towns, just as it was in 2023 to bring Effie’s art back to her birthplace and the towns of her youth in Arkansas.
Along the way during this year’s exhibits we saw many of you who have attended our past exhibits (going back to our 2011 Pearce and 2012 Douglas exhibits under the aegis of the E.A. Smith Archive) and met new friends who - just this year for the first time - discovered and experienced Effie’s iconic desert impressionist landscapes depicting Arizona as Effie first encountered it - without any signs of human activity or intervention. Just the raw natural beauty of Arizona’s deserts, canyons and mountains - the way the pioneers first saw it - and the way the native peoples knew and revered it from the dawn of their arrival eons before.
It seems that almost every time we exhibit Effie’s paintings some word comes from an exhibit visitor of a painting by Effie we had not previously seen or known, or someone comes forward with another artifact that has been in family hands - like a letter or other treasure that sheds new light on Effie’s inspiring life story and her key friendships with other leading families.
Occasionally, someone comes forward and gifts us with one or more of Effie’s important paintings to expand our Effie Anderson Smith Museum Collection so we can exhibit it in our future shows.
The care and conservation of these paintings takes special skill - even if the painting comes to us in good condition. Often, these wonderful works Effie painted and gifted or sold 80 to 100+ years ago need cleaning at a minimum - or often they require a thorough conservation treatment - even restoration at a costs of thousands of dollars.
As our collection has grown - from just two paintings I originally inherited from Effie’s son, Uncle Lewis (I’m a great-grand nephew of the artist) - to the growing collection we now have amassed - preserving and exhibiting these Arizona desert art treasures comes at a considerable cost. And while we are happy to exhibit Effie’s paintings a few times a year, our ultimate Mission as the Effie Anderson Smith Museum and Archive is to create a PERMANENT Museum Gallery Home for the Collection and Archive - so these are on view and available continuously throughout the year for Arizonans and our seasonal out of state visitors to study and enjoy.
Our Vision to create a Permanent Home for Effie’s art needs YOUR SUPPORT.
Will you help us with a Year End Gift of financial support to ensure that the art of Arizona’s earliest resident female impressionist landscape painter is preserved for future generations?
Please visit the SUPPORT page of our website now to make your Tax Deductible contribution to the Effie Anderson Smith Museum and Archive - a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We are grateful for your financial support in ANY AMOUNT.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - EFFIE ART PRINTS - NOW AVAILABLE.
When you support our Museum by giving $ 100 or more we are pleased to offer you a choice of our new Art Booklet entitled “Pictures from the Desert” (cover seen below) featuring a sampling of Effie’s best Arizona paintings and the stories behind them - or - a Canvas Art Print on wooden stretcher - ready for framing of one of Effie’s iconic desert landscapes as our THANK YOU GIFT to you for your generous donation.
Visit the SUPPORT page of our website to make your Tax Deductible contribution and view the full range of Art Prints of Effie’s desert landscapes we now are pleased to offer to you as a THANK YOU GIFT for your kind and generous financial support.
YOU can help ensure we are able to continue exhibiting and preserving Effie’s unique desert art for the next generation and help us bring Effie’s art to new audiences in Arizona and beyond in the years ahead. Your Gift Matters!
We look forward to seeing you at our forthcoming exhibits & programs in 2025.
More about those exhibits in our January and February EFFIEgrams.