Museum sights in New Mexico
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Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
The renowned painter first visited New Mexico in 1917 and lived in Abiquiú, a village 45 minutes northwest of Santa Fe, from 1949 until her death in 1986. Possessing the world's largest collection of her work, this museum showcases the thick brushwork and luminous colors that don't always come through on ubiquitous posters; take your time to relish them here firsthand. The museum is housed in a former Spanish Baptist church with adobe walls that has been renovated to form 10 skylighted galleries. Tours of O'Keeffe's house an hour away in Abiquiú require advance reservations.
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Millicent Rogers Museum
This museum, about 4 miles from the plaza, is filled with pottery, jewelry, baskets and textiles from the private collection of Millicent Rogers, a model and oil heiress who moved to Taos in 1947 and acquired one of the best collections of Indian and Spanish colonial art in the USA. You want to know what a top-quality squash blossom necklace is supposed to look like? Look no further. Also displayed are contemporary Native American and Hispanic artworks.
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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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Rancho de las Golondrinas
The 'Ranch of the Swallows' has been around nearly as long as the city of Santa Fe. It was built as a stop along the Camino Real; now it's a 200-acre living museum, carefully reconstructed and populated with historical re-enactors. You can watch bread being baked in an horno (traditional adobe oven), visit the blacksmith, the molasses mill or traditional crafts workshops. There are orchards, vineyards and livestock. Festivals are held throughout the summer. This is one of the best places to learn something about the history of the area while the kids are having a blast. To get there, take I-25 south to exit 276, then follow the signs.
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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…
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Taos Art Museum & Fechin Institute
This museum was home to Russian artist Nicolai Fechin, who emigrated to New York City in 1922 at age 42 and moved to Taos in 1926. Today his paintings, drawings and sculptures are in museums and collections worldwide. Between 1927 and 1933, Fechin completely reconstructed the interior of his adobe home, adding his own distinctly Russian woodcarvings. The Fechin house exhibits the artist's private collection, including much Asian art, and hosts occasional chamber music events. Five-day watercolor, sculpture and other arts workshops are offered from May to October at the nearby ranch.
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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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Museums of New Mexico
This is a collection of four very different museums – two of them on Museum Hill and two on the Plaza – which also offers seminars, musical events and a variety of guided tours with historic or artistic focuses, many designed for children. Both the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico Museum of Art, the two located on the Plaza, are free on Friday from 5pm to 8pm. All the museums have fabulous gift shops.
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Legends of New Mexico Museum
This independent museum spotlights the state’s most famous visitors and residents – from Billy the Kid to Bill Gates, and the Roswell aliens to Smokey Bear. When they say it’s a tribute to multiculturalism, they mean it. The marketplace on the same grounds features shops, galleries and a restaurant at which everything is either made in New Mexico or historically sold in the state.
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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. Admission is free on Fridays.
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Kit Carson Home & Museum
Kit Carson (1809–68) was the Southwest's most famous mountain man, guide, trapper, soldier and scout. His home serves as an excellent introduction to Taos in the mid-19th century, housing such artifacts as Carson's rifles, telescope and walking cane. Built in 1825 with 30in adobe walls and traditional Territorial architecture, the home's 12 rooms are today furnished as they may have been during Carson's day, with exhibits on all periods of Taos history and mountain-man lore.
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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
Exhibits here examine the Manhattan Project, the history of arms control and the use of nuclear energy as an alternative energy source. Docents here are retired military, and they're very knowledgeable. There are interactive activities for kids. To get there from Central Ave, turn south on Eubank.
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Rattlesnake Museum
You may want to tiptoe past the fangs, scales and rattling tails that inhabit the informative - but slightly unnerving - Rattlesnake Museum southeast of the plaza. From eastern diamondbacks to canebrakes, you won't find more species of rattlesnakes coiled anywhere else in the world. Get a 'certificate of bravery' with admission.
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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 this museum, 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, too. The gift store has an extensive selection of books and crafts.
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State Capitol
Locally referred to as the Roundhouse, the State Capitol is the center of New Mexico's government and was designed after the state symbol, the Zia sign. It also has one of the best (free) art collections in New Mexico. You can walk through by yourself, or call the number above or email Christal Branch (christal.branch@nmlegis.gov) to set up a guided tour.
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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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Albuquerque Museum of Art & History
Conquistador armor and weaponry are highlights at this museum, where visitors can study the city's tricultural Native American, Hispanic and Anglo past. There's also a great gallery featuring the work of New Mexican artists. Family art workshops are offered on Saturdays at 2:30pm, and gallery tours are given daily at 2pm. Admission is free on the first Wednesday of the month and on Sundays until 1pm.
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Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Operated by the All Indian Pueblo Council, the cultural center is a must- see even on the shortest of Albuquerque itineraries. The history exhibits are fascinating, and the arts wing features the finest examples of each Pueblo's work. The IPCC also houses a large gift shop and retail gallery. Along with serving Pueblo-style cuisine, the on-site Pueblo Harvest Café has weekend art demonstrations, bread-baking demos and dances.
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Taos Historic Museums
The 1797 Blumenschein Home & Museum was the home of artist Ernest Blumenschein (one of the founding members of the Taos Society of Artists) in the 1920s. Today it's maintained much as it would have been when the Blumenscheins lived here. The period furniture is interesting, and the art is spectacular. Down the road a bit (you'll want to drive), the Martínez Hacienda, built in 1804, became the end of the line on the northern spur of the Camino Real. With 21 rooms, it's one of the best preserved New Mexican 'Great Houses' from that era. Cultural events are held here regularly.
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Harwood Museum of Art
Housed in a historic mid-19th-century adobe compound, the Harwood Museum of Art features paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photography by northern New Mexico artists, both historical and contemporary.
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New Mexico Holocaust & Intolerance Museum
The New Mexico Holocaust & Intolerance Museum emphasizes WWII exhibits, but there are plenty of powerful ones documenting genocides worldwide – from close-to-home Acoma to all-too-familiar Armenia.
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Turquoise Museum
At this museum visitors get an enlightening crash course in determining the value of stones – from high quality to fakes. Joe Dan Lowry, the turquoise expert who owns the museum, is as opinionated as he is knowledgeable, so you're in for an interesting time!
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Harwood Foundation Museum
Housed in a historic mid-19th-century adobe compound, the Harwood Foundation Museum features paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture and photography by northern New Mexican artists, both historical and contemporary. Founded in 1923, the Harwood has been run by the University of New Mexico since 1936 and underwent a major renovation in 1997. It is the second-oldest museum in New Mexico, and one of its most important when it comes to art collections.
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