SAN ESTEBAN DEL REY, PUEBLO OF ACOMA / CONVENTO RESTORATION
- fgraz0
- Mar 7
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 11
NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO is collaborating with the Pueblo of Acoma on restoration of the convento cloister at San Esteban del Rey. This extraordinary church on the mesa at Acoma Pueblo ("Sky City") was built between 1629 and 1641. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the only native place designated a Historic Site by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is clearly among the most outstanding historic structures remaining in the Southwest.
The convento is where the Franciscan priests resided, and the cloister is a square placita, or courtyard, enclosed on all sides by roofed galleries. San Esteban's cloister is the only one remaining at a pueblo in New Mexico. The convento's reconstruction began in 1703 and was completed before 1725.
In 1976, when the principal archaeological work began, Acoma elders remembered convento wall paintings of deer, horses, cattle, sheep, birds, rainbows with parrots, and a garden scene with pumpkins and corn. The archaeological work also revealed an antelope, a procession of horse riders, geometric designs, and a continuous twelve-meter mural, with rainbows above terrace motifs within a frame of red bands.
RESTORATION / PHASE 1
The restoration project will be realized in two phases. The first phase--in progress presently--entails reroofing the convento cloister and repairing interior water damage there, and reroofing another building appended to the convento. An Acoma contractor, Jackhammer Construction, is doing the work with an all-Acoma crew, and restoration will begin immediately upon funding. The same contractor collaborated with the Pueblo and Profundo on the restoration of the two missions designed by John Gaw Meem, in Acomita and McCartys. Information and photographs regarding those projects are here.
RESTORATION / PHASE 2
The second phase of the project focuses on the murals in the cloister galleries. Archeological work by Michael Marshall in 1976 discovered that San Esteban's cloister has "perhaps the most extensive collection of…historic mural art known in the southwest.” The paintings probably date to the period between 1703 and 1821. Test panels revealed that the walls of the galleries have been painted many times, with newer images superimposed over older ones. This layering of paintings, the archeologist wrote, is "a veritable gallery of historic art" and "an invaluable resource to art history and to the history of the Acoma people." The imagery includes floral designs; a continuous twelve-meter mural with rainbows above terrace motifs within a frame of red bands; a deer head; an antelope; and a procession of horsemen, led by a priest on horseback. All of these are presently covered with whitewash. The only murals visible now are modern paintings of Acoma clan symbols on one gallery wall.
Phase 2 consequently begins with the assessment of the murals by a qualified conservator, including the feasibility of conservation and the estimated cost. Given the mural conditions described in the report following the 1976 assessment, it is presumed that only a small portion of the images are salvageable. These might be supplemented by new murals painted by Acoma artists. Once a plan regarding the murals is finalized by the gaugashti (church caretakers) and implemented, the walls of the four galleries and the external courtyard walls will be repaired and plastered (with adobe on the exterior), again by Jackhammer Construction. Phase 2 also includes the reroofing of another building in the greater church complex.
COST
The cost of Phase 1, currently in progress, is $328,000. The cost of Phase 2 is unknown until the murals are assessed and a plan decided, but the initial stages--assessment and test conservation of the murals, and reroofing of the adjacent building--are estimated at $210,000.
DONATIONS
As of June, 2026 NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO has raised $144,000 for this project. The Pueblo of Acoma is more-than-matching your donations; Profundo contributed $64,000 to the Phase 1 cost of $324,000. Donations can be made by mail, with checks payable to NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO, or on the Profundo website, here. (For online donations click on DONATE and then DONATE WITH PAYPAL to get credit-card options). As always, NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO receives none of the donated money; 100% supports the Acoma project.
DONORS
We acknowledge with deep gratitude the donors who have supported this project to date: AN ANONYMOUS DONOR, NEW MEXICO MULTI-CULTURAL FOUNDATION, THE ROBERT L. CLARKE FAMILY FOUNDATION, Christopher Oechsli and Julie Ann Dakin, Kathryn Bard, Dee Ann McIntyre, Katherine Branch and Michael Collier, Elizabeth Glassman, Tom and Bestsy Shillinglaw, Clint and Catherine Hubbard, Monique Young, Susan Howard And Vince Pigott, Walter and Jolanta Tuzel, Tim Sweeney, Michael Minieka, Jan Becker, Penny Rembe, Stephen Elison, Laura Finlay Smith, Susan and Karl Horn, Jarratt Applewhite, Michael Farrell, William deBuys, Anne and William Frej, Michelle Lepore and Victor Kazanjian, Nancy Wirth, Bonnie Bishop, Frank Chambers, Rodney and Marty Wilson, Lynda Sanchez, Tobi Watson, Jill Whitten, Loretta Breuning. Augustina H. Reyes, Benjamin Campbell, Kathleen Parks-Yoast, Daughters of the American Revolution (Charles Dibrell Chapter), Kate Northrop, Jenifer Kirtland, Spencer Wright, Michael Cannon, Michael Gross, Barbara Arguedas, Melissa Eason, Allison Gentile, Tobin Clark, Andrea James, Donna Berg, Barbara Neal, Henrietta Christmas, Paul Murray, Robyn Hoffman, Lucy Lippard, Michael McGeary, Chris Pearce, and John Benigno.
NUEVO MEXICO PROFUNDO / PO Box 171 / Chamisal, NM 87521
