Frank Applegate, an author, painter, potter and woodcarver, lived in Santa Fe for only a decade, but he had a profound impact on the city and the cultural region. The things that make Santa Fe a "city different" today, such as the Pueblo Revival architecture, the intermingling of Spanish, Indian and Anglo cultures, and the celebration of art, are the very things Applegate admired and defended.

Books on American arts and crafts note his efforts to revive Spanish Colonial art, but make no mention of his own studio pottery or his work with Hopi potters. Likewise, scholars who have read his books of southwestern folklore know nothing about his fine woodcarving. Museum curators who admire his contributions...