El Rancho de las Golondrinas (The Ranch of the Swallows), a Spanish Colonial living history museum located in La Cienega, just south of Santa Fe, New Mexico, has enchanted and educated visitors with its natural beauty, annual festivals, and special events since its establishment as a museum in 1972. Drawing from archival materials, contemporary research, and family records, Padilla reconstructs the early history of Las Golondrinas from its beginnings to its purchase by the Curtin family and its establishment by the Curtin-Paloheimo family as a museum dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Spanish Colonial New Mexico.

Celebrating the inauguration of the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art (Santa Fe), this milestone presents the finest traditional Hispanic arts from the renowned Spanish Colonial Arts Society collection: santos, textiles, tinwork, furniture, colcha, fine art, and artful craft objects from colonial, territorial revival, and contemporary periods. With lavish illustrations and detailed object histories, this book illuminates Spanish Colonial art both as a powerful document of the past and a living tradition in the twenty-first century.

With nearly 200 photographs of folk artists and their crafts, including a gallery of images of folk art masterworks, The Work of Art is an elegant and thoughtful examination of folk art and artists that emphasizes its relevance for all who value ideals of beauty, history, diversity, and community.