Arts & Culture

Art and culture are as much a part of Santa Fe as glorious sunsets and stunning mountain views. You can immerse yourself in the art gallery scene. There are over 250, at last count. Opera, symphony, and choral groups round out the music offerings. The museums are fascinating, with frequently changing special exhibits. Pueblo events, featuring Native American music and dance, are a not-to-be missed New Mexico experience.

Following is a list of the Santa Fe's most popular museums, from the Santa Fe Visitor's Guide, published by the City of Santa Fe Convention and Visitors' Bureau. Check out their website www.santafe.org for excellent information on activities and resources in Santa Fe.

Palace of the Governors
100 Palace Ave.
505-476-5100 Now a Southwestern history museum, the Palace was constructed as a government building by the Spanish in 1610. It remains the nation's oldest public building still in continuous use. The building faces Santa Fe's downtown Plaza, and American Indian artists sell their wares under its historic portal as part of the Native American Vendors Program.

Museum of Fine Arts
107 Palace Ave.
505-476-5072 Located just west of the Plaza, the museum displays an extensive permanent collection of Southwestern artists, including major pieces by Georgia O'Keeffe. New exhibitions are always being mounted that cover the works of contemporary artists of all kinds.

Museum of International Folk Art
706 Camino Lejo
505-476-1200 The Folk Art Museum features ethnic crafts from hundreds of cultures. Noted for its Hispanic heritage wing and the Girard Collection, the museum contains the largest collections of folk art in the world. The Neutrogena Wing brings a vibrant and diverse assemblage of folk art to the museum from one man's lifelong travels and passion for collecting.

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
710 Camino Lejo
505-476-1250 The outstanding collection showcases classic and contemporary Southwestern Indian paintings, sculpture, pottery, jewelry, basketry and weaving. A permanent exhibition tracing the life of American Indians, "Here Now and Always" was curated in part by Native American elders, scholars and tribal members.

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
217 Johnson Street
505-946-1000 This beautiful facility can easily be considered one of the country's most important museums housing the works of one of the century's most important artists. The 13,000 square-foot museum is located in downtown Santa Fe and is convenient to the Plaza.

Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
704 Camino Lejo
505-982-4636 The Wheelwright is housed in a building based on a traditional Navajo hogan and houses contemporary and historic art and craft from all Native American cultures.

The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
750 Camino Lejo
505-982-2226 The Spanish Colonial Arts Society collections contain over 3,000 objects, the most comprehensive compilation of Spanish Colonial art of its kind. Dating from the Middle Ages to the New Millennium, the collections include santos (painted and sculpted images of saints,) textiles, tinwork, silverwork, goldwork, ironwork, straw appliqué, ceramics, furniture, books and more.

El Rancho de las Golondrinas
334 Los Pinos Road
505-471-2261 What once was a stop on the Camino Real is now a living museum that has preserved the Spanish Colonial and Territorial way of life on a 200-acre ranch just outside of Santa Fe. Docents in period dress, period buildings from around the Southwest and hands-on demonstrations make this a perfect spot for families.

Institute of American Indian Art
108 Cathedral Place
505-983-8900 The museum is home to the National Collection of Contemporary American Indian Art. Its collection of over 8,000 pieces includes paintings, prints, sculpture and photography. It also includes traditional arts such as pottery, jewelry and beadwork. It is the nation's only cultural center featuring contemporary art by and about Native People. The exhibition galleries and collections will reopen in late Spring 2005, when the Museum completes an extensive renovation project.

Santa Fe Children's Museum
1050 Old Pecos Trail
505-989-8359 This wonderfully thought out kids' museum offers education and entertainment for families with interactive programs and exhibits. Learning by doing is the theme with indoor and outdoor areas.

The Awakening Museum
125 North Guadalupe
505-954-4025 Jean Claude Gaugy began work on The Awakening in 1985 as an expression of his yearning for connection with The Divine. During the next thirteen years Gaugy carved and painted complex and powerful imagery on four hundred panels of wood covering 8,000 square feet of ceiling, doors, and walls. The monumental work was reinstalled in Santa Fe in an historic space. The Museum has a contiguous meditation garden as well as a gift shop.

SITE Santa Fe
1606 Paseo De Peralta
505-989-1199 SITE Santa Fe is a private not-for-profit contemporary arts organization committed to enriching the cultural atmosphere in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by providing an ongoing venue for regional, national, and international exhibitions and interdisciplinary programs.

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