Museum of Indian Arts & Culture

Attended a film industry event at the Museum so my experience wasn’t the typical museum attending experience. We had dinner there but the chefs were all brought in for the event so our meal wasn’t an ordinary one. The place was in great shape and in a convenient location off of I-​40 with free parking.

GREAT exhibits! Not only was the pottery exhibit worthwhile, but the Turquoise exhibit was absolutely breathtaking. The staff was super friendly and helpful as well. Impressive and educational.

A very interesting museum that shows the past and present with several stories told by videos. The display of pottery, baskets, and jewelery, old and new was very impressive. We didn’t all done, but they were almost as Goidelic as the Herd in Phoenix.

The art was superb– as strong as the other amazing museums in Santa Fe. We love the Folk art museum too, and this one was a close second! The pottery exhibit was especially impressive because they identified the style from each tribe and there was a fantastic video of Maria Martinez making pottery– not to be missed! It made us appreciate this pottery so much more. The culture exhibit was also strong though the art section was even better. Somewhat pricey but worth it. Be sure to check out the far less expensive gift shop at the Folk art museum for good values and excellent gifts to take home. (Out of staters pay more at all museums on Museum hill). Check it out!

The museum was a bit disorganized and didn’t have a lot of meaningful explanations of the artifacts. Majority of the art was woven baskets and pots with a mid size exhibit downstairs about Indian life. Only worthwhile exhibit was the modern art Margaret Bagshire paintings which were colorful and fun to look at. We found out that she has a gallery downtown that you can just go in for free. Bottom line, don’t waste your money, there are better museums out there.

Admission to the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture costs $ 6 for New Mexico residents and $ 9 for non-​residents
A 4-​day pass for unlimited admission to the four museums in the Museum of New Mexico system can be purchased for $ 18 for New Mexico residents/​$ 20 for non-​residents.
A one day pass for two museums — a combination of either the Museum of International Folk Art and the Museum of Indian Arts or the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Palace of the Governors can be purchased for $ 12 for New Mexico residents/​$ 15 for non-​residents.
Museum members and children 16 and under are always admitted FREE.
Sundays are FREE for New Mexico residents with ID.
Wednesdays are FREE for New Mexico resident seniors with ID.

One of the highlights of my art venturing in Santa Fe, this museum packs a powerful punch. The coolest thing to me about it is (I don’t know if it’s the case all the time) that it displays both contemporary and traditional art. The vintage art that I saw there was amazing, but what really blew me away was the contemporary art. The Museum certainly provides the viewer with a new perspective. I will definitely check out what’s happening here next time I am in town!

Chris is part native american so I chose to visit this museum to humor him. As it turns out it was a fascinating way to spend a couple hours in Santa Fe. It also creates the allusion of me being a thoughtful and loving girlfriend, which I am so not.

This is a great place to learn about the native cultures of New Mexico. It is very well detailed with many exhibits.

This branch of the MNM — Museum of New Mexico (just one of four branches) is located on Camino Lejo and is known as the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture /​Laboratory of Anthropology. The Museum of International Folk Art (a second branch of the MNM) is also located on Camino Lejo — fondly known as Museum Hill.
The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture used to be just simply the Laboratory of Anthropology — primarily a research facility with a small exhibit space. (When it was just the «Lab» I worked there for several years — I know every sub-​basement, nook & cranny & every black widow spider!) Since it’s expansion and face lift it now has a major exhibit space, but the archeological and anthropological research still happens here. They have a marvelous research library, that many a movie company has used to research background for some of the block-​buster westerns we all know and love. Much of the excavation, research & publication done on the state’s public lands for highway development was initiated in this facility and satellite offices.
If you want to know what’s happening in archeology and anthropology around New Mexico this is the place to visit.

I wrote the following to describe the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall in Washington, DC, but it also applies to this museum:
I can only describe the NMAI on the Mall by contrast to the American Indian museums in Santa Fe, New Mexico. NMAI shares with the two Santa Fe Indian museums the goal of showing art and culture from a contemporary Indian perspective. In the NMAI on the mall, this is done in a sketchy, impressionistic way. Artifacts seem to be piled together, and it’s hard to find out who made them. There’s also a lot of Political Correctness involved.
In Santa Fe, the museums try to achieve these goals by involving many ordinary members of the local Indian communities; by displaying panels (and having recordings) of Indians’ memories; by showing ancient Indian dwellings side by side with typical homes/​apartments on the current Indian Reservation; by showing art expressing such things as how Indians feel about products that use Indians in their logos (like did you ever notice the logo on Land O’Lakes butter?) The ancient artifacts are shown with reverence, but also with historic context.
Here’s a major contrast: in one of the Santa Fe museums, a whole room shows tribe-​by-​tribe the pottery in historic context. Frank acknowledgement is given to the role of the tourist industry in re-​invigorating the old pottery ways. The museum in DC is skittish about frankly talking about the relationship of the Indians to the outsiders and tourists, or by talking about one tribe at a time, while the history is much more head-​on in Santa Fe.
That said: NMAI is a fascinating museum, and its restaurant is by far the most interesting one on the mall.
And that said, the museum in Santa Fe is one of the most effective presentations of another culture that I’ve ever encountered.

AKA the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
Seriously a cool place with absolutely beautiful things. I went through a turquoise faze after coming here. Just beautiful things that are curated quite well.
The café and gift shop were well staffed and very nice too.