(1934-2003)
A native of Texas, Harold Waldrum made his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s, he moved to New York and later returned to New Mexico in 1979, living in a remote ranch where he painted and raised mules. A painter and a printmaker, Waldrum's work depicted mud-hewn churches and moradas of northern New Mexico villages and pueblos, along with spiritual and mysterious aspects of familiar buildings. To achieve this, he used bold contrasting planes and brilliant color suggestive of emotions. In 1985 Waldrum established El Valle Foundation and began working to preserve the buildings that had inspired many of his paintings.