Cultural Institutions
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center (IPCC)
The Indian Pueblo Cultural Center is an ideal resource for learning more about the history of New Mexico's Pueblos. The center is located in Albuquerque and owned and operated by New Mexico's 19 Pueblos. The IPCC features permanent and rotating museum exhibitions as well as year-round educational programming and events highlighting art, history, film, dance and culture. The award-winning Pueblo Harvest Cafe offers visitors sumptuous samplings of local Native American cuisine and baked goods. The Shumakolowa Gift Shop offers a wide selection of authentic, locally made Native American jewelry, clothing, textiles, pottery and more. Live dance performances are held regularly on the weekends. Check the schedule before your visit. www.indianpueblo.org
Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
IAIA is a thriving educational institution on Santa Fe's Southside that became one of three congressionally-chartered colleges in the United States in 1986. The institute is charged with the study, preservation and dissemination of traditional and contemporary expressions of Native American language, literature, history, oral traditions, and the visual and performing arts. Most of the students are Native American but non-Natives may apply as well. Many world- renowned artists have emerged from this school, which retains an active alumni base and offers ongoing educational programming and events. www.iaia.edu
Museum of Contemporary Native American Arts (MoCNA)
The Institute of American Indian Arts’ museum arm MoCNA is located in downtown Santa Fe across from the St. Francis Cathedral, The museum is dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of contemporary Native art, history and culture. MoCNA is nationally recognized as a preeminent organizer of exhibitions devoted to the display and interpretation of diverse arts representative of Native North America. The museum offers ongoing exhibitions, curatorial and educational programming, films, special events, and a gift shop. www.iaia-museum-of-contemporary-native-arts
Museum of Indian Arts & Culture (MIAC) Laboratory of Anthropology
The warm and inviting MIAC on Museum Hill in Santa Fe is a leading repository of Native art and culture and an integrative facility that tells the stories of the people of the Southwest from pre-history through contemporary art. This family-friendly museum serves a diverse, multicultural audience through changing exhibitions, public lectures, art talks and demonstrations, classes, field trips, artist residencies, and ongoing educational programming for adults and children. www.indianartsandculture.org
New Mexico History Museum
The modern, spacious New Mexico History Museum in downtown Santa Fe presents exhibitions and public programs about New Mexico’s multi-cultural history and experience. The museum actively acquires and exhibits collections relating to the heritage of New Mexico and the Southwest and serves as a center for research, education, and lifelong learning, delivering quality programs that encourage understanding and appreciation of New Mexico's diverse diversity in culture and landscape. The facility offers ongoing educational programming, special exhibitions, film programs, and special events.
www.nmhistorymuseum.org
The New Mexico Museum of Art
The New Mexico Museum of Art opened in 1917 and many of the works that were exhibited at that time remain in the collection today. The museum was originally built to become the art gallery of the Museum of New Mexico, which had been founded in 1909 by archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett. He had begun holding art shows in the historic Palace Of The Governors and then realized that an art gallery would be needed to promote art throughout the region. The Museum building shares the graceful simplicity of adobe pueblo Mission-style architecture and the sense of being created from the earth. The building in turn influenced other architecture and style that emerged in the growth and development of Santa Fe. www.nmartmuseum.org
Palace Of The Governors
The Palace Of The Governors is the beautiful historic cornerstone of the downtown Santa Fe Plaza. The Palace was originally constructed in the early 17th century and chronicles the history of Santa Fe as well as New Mexico and the region. This adobe structure, now part of the state's history museum, was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960, an American Treasure in 1999, and a National Treasure in 2015. The Palace is a mainstay of downtown culture with a variety of multi-cultural education programming and events offered year round and during the Holidays. Native American artists and craftspersons sell hand-made, authentic Indian jewelry and crafts under the famous portal facing the downtown Plaza. www.palaceofthegovernors.org
Poeh Museum and Cultural Center
The Poeh Center offers a glimpse into our local Pueblo history as well as a display of museum quality artworks. The Poeh Center’s mission has always been to ”Support the future of Pueblo people by: teaching the arts, collecting great works of art, and promoting public under-standing of, and respect for, Pueblo history and culture.” The Center is conveniently located just 20 miles north of Santa Fe at the Pueblo of Pojoaque. Tours are available. www.poehcenter.org
School for Advanced Research (SAR)
The School for Advanced Research compound was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1907 as a center for the study of the archaeology and ethnology of the American Southwest. The scope of SAR’s activities has embraced a global perspective through programs to encourage advanced scholarship in anthropology, social science, and the humanities, and to facilitate the work of Native American scholars and artists. The Indian Arts Research Center SAR offers weekly tours of the historic vault collection on Fridays at 2:00 p.m. that include an extensive inventory of post-contact southwest Native American pottery. www.sarweb.org
SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market
The Southwestern Association of Indian Arts is the producer of the annual premier Santa Fe Indian Market that occurs the third week in August and is the largest Native fine art market in the world. The Market is a juried exhibition that features some of the best Native American artists and designers in North America. Each artist has her or his own booth where attendees can meet the artist and buy direct. Indian Market is an intertribal reunion of sorts with music, fashion and food events that draws visitors and art collectors from around the world–a highlight of the summer Market season. The winners of the Indian Market “Best of Show” competition are displayed in the Santa Fe Community & Convention Center as previews before the market. www.swaia.org
Than Povi Fine Art Gallery
This fine art gallery is housed in the former Cottonwood Trading post and is one of the few Native arts venues located on Pueblo land, at San Ildefonso Pueblo. Major Native artists are represented and works can be purchased at affordable prices including a wide selection of jewelry, pottery, paintings, and other great gift items. Also offered are Pueblo tours, art demonstrations, and Native dance performances. The gallery is conveniently located just off of the highway to Los Alamos from Pojoaque. www.thanpovi.com
Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian
The Wheelwright Museum is devoted to Native American Arts of the Southwest and located on Museum Hill. The museum was founded in 1937 by Mary Cabot Wheelwright, who came from Boston, and Hastiin Klah, a Navajo singer and Medicine Man. The Wheelwright is a gorgeous repository of Indian arts, crafts, and history. The Museum also has a carefully curated gift shop called the Case Trading Post that offers unique traditional and contemporary Native American art. Explore an amazing array of authentic Native pottery, jewelry, paintings, tapestries, and more. A must-see for visitors and locals alike. www.wheelwright.org
