Museum sights in Santa Fe
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Georgia O'keeffe Museum
Possessing the world's largest collection of her work, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum features the artist's paintings of flowers, bleached skulls and adobe architecture. Tours of O'Keeffe's house require advance reservations.
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Bataan Memorial Military Museum & Library
A labor of both love and war, the Bataan Memorial Military Museum & Library exhibits an unusual collection of military mementoes. It began in 1947 as a display in the state capitol honoring the 'Battling Bastards of Bataan.' Today the museum occupies the former home base of the NM 200th Coast Artillery, captured when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1942, and the very last unit to surrender.
Some 70,000 POWs, most Filipino, were forced to walk the brutal, 75-mile Bataan Death March. Of 1800 mostly Hispanic New Mexicans stationed in Bataan, only 900 returned. In addition to exhibits that tell their story, interesting examples of psychological-warfare leaflets from …
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Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum
About 15 miles north of Santa Fe, the one-of-a-kind Historic Line Camp Gallery & Huichol Indian Museum is a gift shop and museum that claims the largest collection of Huichol Indian art in North America: Nearika, unbroken strands of colorful yarn coiled into tales of life and death, and chaquira, sculptures of animals covered in tiny, obsessively patterned beads, are said to depict the understandably wild dreams of the 'People of Peyote.'
Westerners didn't encounter the tribe, which lives in a remote region of the Sierra Madre, until the 1930s. The small museum has a video as well as artifacts, including clothing, musical instruments, old photos and art, but the most impr…
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Museum of International Folk Art
Part of a collection of four very different museums. On Museum Hill, the Museum of International Folk Art houses more than 100,000 objects from more than 100 countries and is arguably the best museum in Santa Fe. The exhibits aren’t simplistically arranged behind glass cases; the historical and cultural information is concise and thorough; and a festive feel permeates the rooms. The Hispanic wing displays religious art, tin work, jewelry and textiles from northern New Mexico and throughout the Spanish colonial empire, dating from the 1600s to the present.
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Palace of the Governors
Part of a collection of four very different museum. The Palace of the Governors is one of the oldest public buildings in the country. Built in 1610 by Spanish officials, it housed thousands of villagers when the Indians revolted in 1680 and was home to the territorial governors after 1846. Since 1909 the building has been a museum, with more than 17,000 historical objects reflecting Santa Fe’s Indian, Spanish, Mexican and American heritage. Volunteers lead free, highly recommended palace tours throughout the day; call for exact times.
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Museum of Fine Arts
Part of a collection of four very different museums. The Museum of Fine Arts features works by regional artists and sponsors regular gallery talks and slide lectures. It was built in 1918, and the architecture is an excellent example of the original Santa Fe–style adobe. With more than 20,000 pieces – including collections of the Taos Society of Artists, Santa Fe Society of Artists and other legendary collectives – it’s a who’s who of the geniuses who put this dusty town on par with Paris and New York.
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Museum of Indian Arts & Culture
Part of a collection of four very different museums. The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture opened in 1987 to display artifacts unearthed by the Laboratory of Anthropology, which must confirm that any proposed building site in New Mexico is not historically significant. Since 1931 it has collected over 50,000 artifacts. Rotating exhibits explore the historical and contemporary lives of the Pueblo, Navajo and Apache cultures.
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Site Santa Fe
An enormous, whitewashed space, the 8000-sq-ft SITE Santa Fe is a nonprofit art museum dedicated to presenting world-class contemporary art to the community. From radical installation pieces to cutting-edge multimedia exhibitions, this hybrid museum-gallery takes art to the next level. It also hosts wine-splashed openings, artist talks, movie screenings and performances of all kinds.
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Institute of American Indian Arts Museum
Primarily showing work by students and faculty of the esteemed four-year Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, this place also features the finest offerings of Native American artists from tribes across the US. It’s an excellent place to see beautiful art and understand its role in Native American culture.
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St Francis Auditorium
The Museum of Fine Arts hosts free concerts by the Santa Fe Community Orchestra (%466-2516; www.sfco.org) and others from July through August in St Francis Auditorium , an elegant venue designed to look like the interior of a Spanish mission, where you can enjoy classical music and new works by New Mexico composers.
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Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
In 1937, Mary Cabot established the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian, part of Museum Hill, to showcase Navajo ceremonial art. While its strength continues to be Navajo exhibits, it now includes contemporary Native American art and historical artifacts as well.
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Spanish Market
In late July, traditional Spanish colonial arts, from retablos (paintings on wooden panels) and bultos (wooden carvings of religious figures), to handcrafted furniture and metalwork, make this juried show an artistic extravaganza.
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Santa Fe Children's Museum
The Santa Fe Children's Museum features hands-on exhibits on science and art for young children. The museum runs daily programs tackling subjects like solar energy and printmaking.
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