Bronzed beauty: Exhibition showcases sculpted works by renowned artist Glenna Goodacre

Jul. 22—When Glenna Goodacre was studying art, she told her teacher she wanted to become a sculptor.

He discouraged her, giving her a "D" and telling her she had no ability to see in three dimensions.

She painted for a while. Then she became a nationally-known sculptor.

Santa Fe's Nedra Matteucci Galleries has assembled an exhibition of bronzes by the late artist, on view through Aug. 3.

Goodacre's most famous works include the Vietnam Women's Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Irish famine memorial in Philadelphia and the Sacagawea dollar coin. She also made a 7-foot-tall statue of President Ronald Reagan, which was unveiled at the Reagan Presidential Library in California in 1998.

She was one of the few women creating large, commemorative sculptures; early in her career, she signed her work "G. Goodacre," out of concern that people would not buy art made by a woman.

Today her work can be found in public places across both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, including at the New Mexico State Capitol and the Albuquerque International Sunport, as well as the Albuquerque Museum and the ABQ BioPark. Goodacre lived in Santa Fe from 1983 until her death in 2020.

An influx of recent works from private collections prompted the show, which features life-sized and larger pieces, as well as models from her five-decade career.

Santa Fe's Dan Anthony spent three decades working at Goodacre's side, doing everything from organizing and tracking her bronzes to public relations, publications and gallery events.

"We'd get behind, and I'd push clay around with her," he added.

"She would start her day with the Albuquerque Journal, the (Santa Fe) New Mexican, the New York Times and USA Today," he said.

The artist began with sketches before manipulating the clay used for her bronzes.

"Basket Dancers" grew from her fascination with pueblo events.

"She loved to go to the ritual dances at all the pueblos," Anthony said. "The basket dance is about women's roles in the pueblo. It's about harvesting and preparing food. We borrowed props from Tesuque Pueblo."

The Texas-born Goodacre sometimes hired pueblo women as models.

"End of the Dance" shows a pueblo woman holding a tablita board by her side in traditional dress. The word "tablita" refers to the colorful wooden boards worn on the heads of pueblo ceremonial dancers.

"Part of the grace and dignity of the dancer is to keep that upright and keep it from falling," Anthony said.

The sculpture "He Is, They Are" of a Plains tribal man grew from a dream. Her ex-husband served as the model in his Jockey shorts.

"She had a dream and that guy was in the dream," Anthony said. "She wasn't a woo-woo kind of person; she was a West Texas hardscrabble kind of gal."

"Sacred Song" depicts a Native girl playing the flute.

"In all the tribes and pueblos, there are only men playing the flute," Anthony said. "Glenna, as usual, said, 'Why can't a girl play the flute?' "

Goodacre was brave enough to gamble on life-sized sculptures she financed by herself.

"None of her husbands ever helped her," Anthony said. "They never gave her any money. That was all on her own."

The artist ended her day promptly at 5 p.m. with a glass of wine.

"Both of us hated to work at night," Anthony said.

In 2007, Goodacre suffered a massive subdural hematoma, forcing her to use a walker and preventing her from driving.

"She never really came all the way back," Anthony said.

Goodacre died at her Santa Fe home in 2020.

Goodacre was an academician of the National Academy of Design and a fellow of the National Sculpture Society. She won many awards at these institutions' New York exhibitions. Goodacre received honorary doctorates from her alma mater, Colorado College, and Texas Tech University in her hometown of Lubbock. In 2002, she won the James Earl Fraser Sculpture Award at the Prix de West Exhibition. In 2003, she was awarded the Gold Medal for Career Achievement from The Portrait Society of America and the Texas Medal of Arts. She was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 2003.