Santa Fe has a long history of being an art destination known for its turquoise jewelry, Western paintings, and bronze sculptures, but The City Different has a surprise for you.
We’re talking art parties lasting into the early hours of the morning and secret, invite-only gallery openings. Seriously—these brazenly nontraditional arts experiences deserve to be as synonymous with Santa Fe as the movie biz is with Hollywood. For some time now, The City Different has been quietly ranked as one of the largest arts markets in the US, with small, independent artists thriving here. When compared with the art markets of New York and LA, Santa Fe easily stands as an unparalleled beacon for collaboration and innovation in contemporary art.
Check out these seven art experiences if you want to see the present and future of mixed media and performance.
1. Meow Wolf's House of Eternal Return
After establishing a local presence in both music and other harder-to-define ventures, the Meow Wolf arts production collective opened what they call an “immersive art installation” at the House of Eternal Return. It thoroughly departs from the traditional museum model in its bold use of interactive space. If you’re a little hazy on what all this means, don’t worry—keep reading.
The fully interactive experience they’ve created at the House of Eternal Return pushes the envelope of what is possible for an exhibition space—an idea that quickly garnered national attention before opening its doors in 2016, thanks to city initiatives and backing by business partners like George R. R. Martin. (The Game of Thrones author also supported the reopening of the historic Jean Cocteau Cinema in 2013).
The House of Eternal Return is truly fun for the whole family, and for music lovers as well, with an ample post-10pm lineup of eclectic performers in the Fancy Town space. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
2. The Center for Contemporary Arts
A more tenured space is the Center for Contemporary Arts, often known as CCA among locals. With an exhibition space that has a constant rotation of visual artists (CCA is known for their awesome collaborations) as well as regular show times of independent and documentary films, CCA blends creative conversation with the idea of the Hollywood blockbuster—there’s no reason spaces like this shouldn’t see the same attendance movie theaters do.
Filmmakers from all over the world often show and discuss their films at this tiny, easy-to-miss venue tucked away at 1050 Old Pecos Trail. Keep an eye on their calendar—show times run every day, annual passes are available for film enthusiasts in the model of traditional museum memberships, and the exhibitions are constantly updating with never-before-seen works from emerging artists.
3. Vladem Contemporary
Opened in September of 2023, the Vladem Contemporary adds a whole new energy to the Guadalupe district in the Railyard. It's the manifestation of the New Mexico Museum of Art’s promise to deliver on its 1917 founding commitment to contemporary art and education programming. Born of a warehouse, Vladem Contemporary offers 9,969 square feet of exhibition space, 2,307 square feet of programmatic space in the Van Mabee Education Center, and 4,100 square feet of collections storage, some of it visible to the public. The museum features rotating exhibitions, artist-in-residence programming, and a gift shop!
4. Sky Railway
Climb aboard a uniquely imagined adventure train, born of refurbished historic railcars, the brainchild of Games of Thrones George R.R. Martin, among others. Launched in 2022, Sky Railway is your ticket to a dozen different experiences along the tracks—cuisine, theater, flamenco, sunset serenades, jazz, craft beer and wine tasting, and more. Schedule your experiences before your arrival because you absolutely do not want to miss out.
5. SITE Santa Fe
(Photo: Jeff Goldberg for SITE Santa Fe)
SITE Santa Fe is housed within an architectural structure that’s a piece of art in and of itself. SHoP, a firm best known for its innovative and sustainable buildings, designed the space, taking into account how SITE’s exhibits might be experienced. When the exterior lights illuminate the textured aluminum siding, the effect is profound—the outside seems just as much an artistic piece as what lies inside.
SITE aims to push the boundaries of standard curatorial practices. And in a show of belief in emerging artists, SITE accepts unsolicited materials from creators twice per year. Free and open Thursday through Monday.
6. Santa Fe Botanical Garden
(Photo courtesy of TOURISM Santa Fe)
When you picture Santa Fe, you’re probably thinking shades of red, golds, and some adobe thrown in for good measure. But while Santa Fe is certainly set in high mountain territory, that doesn’t mean there is a lack of green. The City Different comprises acres and acres of striking local landscape at its most verdant and plants as colorful as many of the city’s art museums.
But what makes the Santa Fe Botanical Garden an “experience” are the events it hosts and how they tie into the community. Check out Glow—generally during the month of December—to see the garden lit up with thousands of lights and lasers against the backdrop of the winter's chilly white, or the solstice and equinox celebrations, or get tickets in advance to Shakespeare in the Garden. Then there’s Community Day, where students and New Mexico residents get in free. The accessibility of the garden—and the focus on the community—couldn’t be more suitable for a come-as-you-are city founded around the arts. And there are more and more sculptures incorporated into the property each year.
7. CURRENTS New Media Festival
Strategically headquartered in the burgeoning Railyard Arts District, the annual CURRENTS New Media Festival comes back annually every June with work of established and emerging new media artists from New Mexico and beyond, showcasing interactive and non-interactive installations, multimedia performances, virtual and augmented reality environments, single channel video, animation, experimental documentary, robotics, wearables, and 3D printing. Sound unreal and kind of futuristic? 'Tis! Fortunately, the Festival lasts more than a week, so you have the opportunity to revisit this or that thing that you saw or experienced to try to wrap your head around it!
Note: This blog was written by Alexandra Marx via Matador Network in paid partnership with TOURISM Santa Fe. Updated October 2024.
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