Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery

Bridging Old West, New Media Through Art

By Tiffany Kjos

With millions of views online and a museum and gallery full of Western and Native American masterpieces, Mark Sublette is as comfortable on YouTube as he is handling century-old pieces. 

The ardent educator, historian and preeminent authority on Western artist Maynard Dixon has leveraged a lifelong obsession into a platform that spans fine art, storytelling and digital media. It is all showcased at the Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery, 6872 E. Sunrise Dr. #130, and the neighboring Maynard Dixon and Native American Art Museum.

“We have the largest collection of Maynard Dixon material in the world, including things like his easel and his pistol and his very personal things, like his chief’s blanket,” said Sublette. 

Among Sublette’s many books are “Maynard Dixon’s American West: Along the Distant Mesa,” which explores Dixon’s life and work, and the more recent “Ed Mell-Maynard Dixon: Icons of the West,” a comparative study of Dixon and fellow Southwest artist Ed Mell. 

“He was born in the Gilded Age and died in the nuclear age, so he sees the changing of the Old West to modernization, and he captures all of that,” Sublette said of Dixon. “And he made his entire life as an artist, which I also really appreciate. Sometimes you just see something in a person, and you go, ‘Oh, this is worth spending a lifetime trying to understand.’” 

Inside the gallery, visitors find Native American jewelry, furnishings, rugs, baskets and fine artwork from the Taos and Santa Fe colonies, including paintings, sculptures, pottery and photographs, ranging in price from $35 to seven figures. 

Sublette’s passion began early. Growing up in Portales, N.M., he spent time at the nearby Blackwater Draw National Historic Landmark and its museum. 

“So, I would go and visit that museum, and it would make me wonder and be inspired to see the art museums where I grew up other than that. I first started collecting pieces when I was a little kid. The first piece I got I was probably around 7 or 8 – a little Santa Clara bird ‘animalito,’ which I still have.” 

That early fascination grew into a full-blown love of collecting. “When I started as a kid, I had a coin collection and I had a comic collection. But the comics I collected because I liked the art. It wasn’t about the stories; it was the art,” he said. 

Over time, Sublette’s focus turned toward indigenous art. “I don’t know how you could live here and not find a connection to the people and the arts,” he said. “It’s who we are as a people if you live in the Southwest. We’re surrounded by imagery and names that are directly taken from Native cultures.” 

Sublette’s photographs are for sale and are included in his eight-volume Charles Bloom Murder Mystery Series — available at the gallery and on Audible and Kindle — and in newer titles featuring fictional art detective Westin Blackwood. He also penned “Between the White Lines,” a stand-alone thriller, in addition to art catalogues and numerous magazine pieces. 

Recognized with the C.M. Russell Heritage Award for Art History in 2022, Sublette supports cultural and social programs through the Sublette Family Foundation for the Arts. 

Before founding the gallery, Sublette earned a medical degree in Missouri, served four years as a naval physician, then completed his residency at the University of Arizona. In 1992, he opened the Medicine Man Art Gallery. “The name Medicine Man has to do with the fact that I was a physician and I dealt with Native American art,” he explained. 

Decades later, Sublette has become just as well-known for his Art Dealer Diaries podcast on YouTube and Spotify, which he’s hosted weekly for nine years. Recording those stories taught him something personal. “I didn’t really think of myself as an artist. But after listening and understanding the journey that these creative types take, and how their minds work, I realized, oh yeah, this is what I do as well.” 

His next venture is a collaboration with famed Western artist Thomas Blackshear II – a story to be published alongside Blackshear’s paintings in a pulp fiction magazine. Blackshear’s works are on exhibition at the gallery this spring.

Sublette and his son Charles, a co-owner of the gallery, travel for gallery events, museum visits, and art shows, producing videos along the way. His wife, Kathleen, is also co-owner of the business.

“It’s a joy to get to work with your family, and I love working with my son,” Sublette said. “It’s fun to watch him evolve and find areas that he’s very interested in and knows more about than I do. So, he’ll at some point take over and run the ship, and hopefully this gallery will continue for another 30-plus years.”

Pictured above – Mark Sublette, owner Medicine Man Gallery. Photo by Brent G. Mathis