The New Mexico Museum of Art (formerly the Museum of Fine Arts), the oldest art museum in the state of New Mexico, is one of four state-run museums in Santa Fe. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs.
Designed by Isaac Rapp and built in 1917,[1] it is an example of Pueblo Revival Style architecture, and one of Santa Fe's best-known representations of the synthesis of Native American 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.
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The museum’s collection spans the historic art colonies of Taos 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; the largest collection of Gustave Baumann; 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.
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."
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 and the Santa Fe Community Orchestra. The auditorium has seating for 430 to 450.