Sister Giotto Moots

Sitter Sister Giotto Moots (1927 - 2018)

DateJuly 14, 1977

Mediumgelatin silver print

Dimensions7 3/4 × 9 13/16 in. (19.7 × 24.9 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Nancy Tucker

Object numberPA2019.041.061

DescriptionSister Giotto Moots smiles toward the camera as she stands beside her woodcut artwork displayed on the wall of Sagrada Art Center (Sagrada Art Studio) in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her graying hair is styled away from her face. She is wearing a lace blouse.

A newspaper clipping from a Madison, Wisconsin newspaper is pasted to the back of the photograph and reads, "Standing before one of her woodcuts is Sister Giotto, founder of a New Mexico art school. She once taught in Madison. -- When Sister Giotto Moots arrived in Albuquerque, N.M. in 1969 she had dreams of opening a religious art gallery. But her pocketbook was empty. After numerous foundations rejected her applications for grants, she sought advice on a course of action. She turned to a visiting priest who had transformed an island into a refugee camp despite initial lack of funds. He told her, "Don't worry about anything except the first bag of cement." Thus encouraged, she went on to establish Sagrada Art Center, a complex including a gallery for religious art, a restaurant, and a graduate school for artists. Sister Giotto (pronounced Jotto) is lecturing on religious art and symbolism at Edgewood College here this week. She is no stranger to Madison. She taught at Edgewood High School (Edgewood offers education from kindergarten through college) and also earned a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison."

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