San José de la Laguna Mission

The folk artist the panel will not name is still nameless. Sometime between 1800 and 1808 a painter known only as the Laguna santero built the altar screen and painted the sanctuary for a patron, José Manuel Aragón, alcalde mayor of the western pueblos, who lived at Laguna; a friar inventoried the finished work in 1810. The same hand is traced at San Miguel in Santa Fe in 1798 and at Zia and Acoma, likely a trained artist from southern New Spain running a workshop. After Laguna, around 1809, he disappears from the record.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker San José de la Laguna Mission The picturesque mission church of San José de la Laguna was built around 1706 by Fray Antonio Miranda and shows the single - aisle floor plan commonly used in pueblo churches. It has been repaired many times, and acquired its distinctive white stucco exterior in 1977. (see other side) (cont' from front side) The church contains a beautiful and well - preserved altar screen made between 1800 and 1808 by a folk artist known only as the "Laguna santero." The interior walls are mud- plastered and white-washed, and the floor is made of packed earth. The handsome wooden ceiling is laid in a herringbone pattern.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Acoma Sky City — 15 mi
  Haak'u, the village on a sandstone mesa west of Albuquerque, seen only on the pueblo's own tours, with a mission whose roof beams were carried on foot from Mount Taylor.

More markers nearby

• San José de la Laguna Mission — steps away
• Susie Rayos Marmon — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away
• Pueblo of Laguna — steps away