The New Mexico Museum of Art (formerly the Museum of Fine Arts), the oldest art museum in the state of New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, is one of four state-run museums in Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...

. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs

The New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs is an executive branch agency of the New Mexico state government. Created in 1978 by the New Mexico Legislature, the department oversees the state museum, monument, arts, library, heritage preservation, and archaeology programs. Some 550 employees,...

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Designed by Isaac Rapp

Isaac Rapp

Isaac Hamilton Rapp, notable American architect known as the " Creator of the Santa Fe style. "Rapp learned his trade working for his father, a sometime architect and building contractor in Carbondale, Illinois. He left in 1887 and by 1889 had moved to Trinidad, Colorado where he joined with C.W....

 and built in 1917, it is an example of Pueblo Revival Style architecture

Pueblo Revival Style architecture

The Pueblo Revival style is a regional architectural style of the Southwestern United States which draws its inspiration from the Pueblos and the Spanish missions in New Mexico. The style developed at the turn of the 20th century and reached its greatest popularity in the 1920s and 1930s, though it...

, and one of Santa Fe's best-known representations of the synthesis of Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 and Spanish Colonial design styles. The museum’s permanent collection and changing exhibitions of traditional and contemporary art place the art of the region into national and international contexts.

The museum located at 107 West Palace Avenue, one block off the historic Santa Fe Plaza

Santa Fe Plaza

Mirroring the traditional Spanish-American colonial cities, the Santa Fe Plaza is a National Historic Landmark in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. The plaza, or "city-square", was originally, and is still to this day, the center gathering place in town, or as many know it "the heart of Santa Fe." The...

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Collection

The museum’s collection spans the historic art colonies of Taos

Taos, New Mexico

Taos is a town in Taos County in the north-central region of New Mexico, incorporated in 1934. As of the 2000 census, its population was 4,700. Other nearby communities include Ranchos de Taos, Cañon, Taos Canyon, Ranchitos, and El Prado. The town is close to Taos Pueblo, the Native American...

 and Santa Fe of the past hundred years to cutting-edge contemporary art from around the region and the world. Highlights of the museum’s 20,000 works of art include extensive collections of the Cinco Pintores; the Taos Society of Artists

Taos Society of Artists

The Taos Society of Artists was an organization of visual arts founded in Taos, New Mexico in 1915; it disbanded in 1927. The Society was essentially a commercial cooperative, as opposed to a stylistic collective, and its foundation contributed to the development of the tiny Taos art colony into...

; the largest collection of Gustave Baumann

Gustave Baumann

Gustave Baumann was a printmaker and painter, and one of the leading figures of the color woodcut revival in America. His works have been shown at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and the New Mexico Museum of Art...

; the Lucy Lippard Collection; major American photographers, including the Jane Reese Williams Collection of women photographers; new media, including video installations; and an important collection of Georgia O’Keeffe paintings.

Exhibitions

The Museum of Art hosts a changing schedule of temporary exhibitions, including both traveling shows and exhibitions developed by the museum's curatorial staff.

In April 2007, the Museum installed "How the West is One," a long-term exhibition based on the museum's permanent collection. Curated by Joe Traugott, curator of 20th century art, "How the West is One" reexamines thinking about what constitutes "traditional art of the Southwest."

St. Francis Auditorium

The St. Francis Auditorium, located in the New Mexico Museum of Art, is the venue for various cultural and musical organizations, including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival

The Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival is a six week long summer Festival of chamber music held annually in July and August and located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was founded in 1972 and presented its first series of concerts in 1973. Well-known musicians and young performers appear each season in...

 and the Santa Fe Community Orchestra

Santa Fe Community Orchestra

The Santa Fe Community Orchestra is an amateur orchestra based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In addition to performing concerts, the orchestra conducts educational programs, including children’s concerts, instrument-making workshops, and workshops for adult musicians. Some orchestra members have...

. The auditorium has seating for 430 to 450.

External links

• New Mexico Museum of Art official website
• Museum of New Mexico
• New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs