M: Canyon Road was a Native American trail that went from the pueblo where Santa Fe would be built, east over the mountains to the Pecos pueblo. And that road has a certain amount of magic. There’s always been spectacular things that have happened along this path. Where else would you find the lady that frequented El Farol with her pig? Actually there’s been lots of animals: there was Eeyore the donkey, lots of horses, and a llama called Dali Llama.
T: Thirty years ago, we had Richard the poet, who had gone to St. John’s. Everyday he would walk up and down Canyon Road in a prom dress. Every day. And he slept in the woods at the Audubon center.
And Sagemayo Dandy squatted on the side of the road in a small box because the law said if you squatted for twelve years somewhere, it was yours.
M: He even had a mailbox.
T: When we first opened the gallery, I was working late one night, looking like a mess with my hair up with pencils and these two elegant men walk in. They asked about a painting and filled out an information card so I could send details. It was Vidal Sassoon. They never responded. I think it might have been my hair.
M: We opened when Geronimo opened, and in those days there were often spies around. Even before Geronimo, when it was Three Cities of Spain and Claude’s, and they always had spies. There were deals being made. It was kind of that world War II Vienna, East meets West vibe. When secrets needed to be moved from here to there, it always seemed to happen in that restaurant.
T: One day I’m trying to get out of our driveway, right across the street from Geronimo, and there’s Secret Service parked on the street blocking my car. I went and knocked on the window. They slowly rolled it down and I asked them to move. They said they couldn’t. Turned out Madeleine Albright was in a meeting in Geronimo.
M: Yeah, we were having dinner one night and there was a huge FBI raid. I mean, it’s cuckoo.
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