Museum of International Folk Art

Santa Fe, United States

4.5

Open now

20 reviews

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Telephone:
+1 505-476-1200
Website:
www.internationalfolkart.org
Address:
On Museum Hill 706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, NM, 87505
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Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Santa Fe) 4:58 PM Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Home of the worlds largest collection of international folk art that began with founder Florence Dibell Bartlett, who said the art of the craftsman is a bond between the peoples of the world.

Exhibits include Multiple Visions: A Common Bond with folk art, toys and miniatures from more than 100 countries designed by Designer Alexander Girard. The cases have numbers related to a printed Gallery Guide or on a multi-​media tour via Ipod touch. Docent tours are also available. Between Two Worlds: Folk Artists Reflect on the Immigrant Experience through April 4, 2016. Flamenco: From Spain to New Mexico through September 11, 1016.

Annual programs include hands-​on art making for ages 3 to 103 for Day of the Dead/​Dia de Muertos, Winter Celebration and Arts Alive in the summer; exhibit related demonstrations, performances and talks throughout the year. In July, the museum and the International Folk Art Alliance produce the International Folk Art Market| Santa Fe, bringing folk art and artists from around the world together on Museum Hill, tickets do on sale May 1.

History

Established in 1953.

Florence Dibell Bartlett founded the world’s first international folk art Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a witness to two world wars, Bartlett believed encouraging people to interact with folk art and with one another would help promote cultural understanding. Since the opening in September 1953, the Museum of International Folk Art has gained national and international recognition as the home to the world’s largest collection of folk art. The collection of more than 135,000 artifacts forms the basis for exhibitions in four distinct wings: Bartlett, Girard, Hispanic Heritage, and Neutrogena Wings. In 2003, the Museum celebrated 50 years of documenting, collecting, preserving and interpreting the creative works of traditional artists from cultures around the world.

Meet the Manager

Laura L.

Manager

Laura coordinates Special Events and PR at the Museum of International Folk Art (MOIFA), a division of the State of New Mexico’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA). This includes museum programs and events such as the Spring Folk Art Flea Market, and private receptions, ceremonies, parties, weddings, dinners large or small on Santa Fe’s Museum Hill, about 3 miles from the downtown Plaza; and liaison to the International Folk Art Market Santa Fe each July since 2004.

Museum of International Folk Art also recommends

Museum Hill Café

American (New)

Laura L. says,

«Delectable salads, sandwiches and entrees with handcrafted desserts!»

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20 reviews of Museum of International Folk Art

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Albuquerque, NM
This place wasn’t what I expected. It’s art from all over the world, different cultures, Asian, Middle Eastern, Indian, Native American, etc. There is a flamenco exhibit where you can try on fancy dresses, hats, and what the guys wear in flamenco. In the flamenco place there’s videos that teaches you how they do the clapping and the castanets. My favorite part was the exhibit on the immigrant experience. There’s a notebook of personal immigrant stories how their parents fled communism or Nazis. Also some thought provoking questions where you could write down your own answers and it was interesting reading other people’s hilarious answers. There’s also an outdoor sculpture area across from the museum with some really cool pieces of Native American women by Native American women.
Place rating: 5
Austin, TX
The Museum of International Folk Art located in the beautiful setting of Museum Hill in Santa Fe is truly a gift to the world.
Even if you are not a ‘culture vulture’ still consider taking an hour of your time to visit this fascinating collection of folk art. There is a collection of folk art collected by one man, Alexander Girard and his wife displayed beautifully in the Girard Wing called «Multiple Visions: A Common Bond.»
These pieces of art are astonishingly cute. Yes, cute. Everything is hand made with intricate detail and collected from all over the world. The details in the dolls, the miniatures and tapestries — just to name a few — are nothing that even the finest German machinery could reproduce. The collection is in perfect shape. Preserved over the years, probably painstakingly packed and traveled from all over the world with «surgeon-​hands» care.
There are dolls seated around tables having tea parties reminiscent of some time long before Alice in Wonderland. There are tapestries with sayings like, «Libertad de los Negros» probably sewn many years before the 1700 – 1800 American slave trade. There are statues made out of minerals and clay and paint that probably cannot be found nor reproduced today. The details in the faces, and the hands in the dolls from Bolivia, Poland and Mexico just to name a very small few, are the kind of details you could imagine the delicate but strong hands of a village puppeteer, who spent hours and years of his or her life creating masterpieces for his children and family to play with. Now preserved behind glass and set on stages for the world to enjoy.
Take your mother, take your children and your lovers to see this magnificent collection of fine folk art. If anything, if you do not appreciate the joy these pieces of art will bring you, they will astonish your appreciation for engineering and attention to detail.
The BEST part for my toddler was the Children’s Play Area. Wow! This area for play is on par with anything the Smithsonian has put together for children to explore and play. There are dolls to climb trees, and hidden pieces of art disguised as toys. The puppet theater stage is a blast for kids to put on shows, or in my case, for my mom to put on a show for her granddaughter. Enjoy!
Place rating: 5
Haworth, NJ
Visited with 4 kids under 10. This museum never disappoints. The permanent collection always excites the kids and the current exhibition on Southern Pottery was excellent.
Place rating: 5
Manhattan, NY
Beautiful. Learned and marveled much. Colorful designs from around the world including ancient to modern works. The folk art represents history celebrations and everyday life. Fascinating to see similarities among some cultures with style and materials
Wonderful pottery exhibit as well with an informative film on making the pottery
The Red exhibit was educational on the importance of the color to the Mexican peoples as well as the Europeans. In addition how red is made and the chemistry of nature to change colors is amazing. You’ll be surprised how we still get red today and why some believe Starbucks drinks with an additive is not vegetarian!
A must see museum.
Place rating: 4
New York, NY
This museum is conveniently clustered with a couple of other museums in Santa Fe, making it a good place to visit if you have other museums you want to visit as well. We spent about 2 hours here looking at all the fun, colorful stuff from all over the world they had on exhibit. The permanent exhibit is almost overwhelming — literally every inch of space is occupied by some sort object. I found the large displays really fascinating, but there are a lot of smaller artifacts that just as interesting. There are little guidebooks where you can read more about what’s on display, but most of the descriptions aren’t really helpful they tell you less about the specific object and who made it and more about the larger context of the object. The special exhibition was alright, and well curated, but not as exciting as the main collection. The last area is an interactive exhibit about immigrant experiences which featured interesting art and poetry. The gift shop had a lot of little souvenirs, and is worth visiting even if you’re not interested in the museum. Overall, this museum is a fun way to spend a morning or afternoon, and has lots of little treasures to look at.
Place rating: 5
Princeton, NJ
loved this place. so easy to just get lost and discover something new at every turn. this was a great example of ways that so many cultures are similar yet distinct, and seeing them all mixed together creatively in ways that worked so well together was a nice visual metaphor for what this world could be someday…
Place rating: 4
Albuquerque, NM
I love the MoIFA. It has GREAT exhibits, and I love the new RED exhibit especially. The other great thing I will say about this museum is they have the BEST hands-​on demos and lectures at their opening celebrations.
My only real complaint is this: A major design flaw. Or rather, two. As with many museums in this state, it’s as if no-​one thought about where to put lighting so that you don’t block the light you need to read the text at each item in the exhibit by standing on front of the thing you are supposed to be reading. The other issue they share with everyone else is dead-​ends in the exhibits, where you can get trapped by onlookers onto a different item in the collection. Thankfully, and not surprisingly, this rarely, if ever, happens in the Girard wing, which is the main reason to go, in my book. Girard knew what he was doing in design and would never have let that happen in his smorgasboard of folk art goodies.
Also, I’m a dork but I love that they have the mounted sherriffs directing traffic. ;)
Place rating: 5
Chula Vista, CA
I found this museum to be extremely interesting and explosive in color. The permanent collection in the Girard Wing is THE place to hang out and marvel at all the little details. Toys from around the world hang out here, literally. Just look up! There’s so much to see that some objects hang high in the walls. Everything is so well crafted that it inspired me to get artsy and reconnect with my creative side. It’s a definite must for all art lovers.
The pottery and immigration exhibitions were on display when I went, but two other ones were closed. I learned a lot about pottery and got a tad emotional reading what people had written about their origins and times they’ve felt out of place. Great stuff!
Place rating: 2
Latham, NY
For this visit the museum gets only two stars. After we paid, we were told three of the five exhibits were closed. Since we were visiting from afar, we decided to stay anyway. The pottery exhibit was interesting, but the only other exhibit was a very large room full of one man’s personal folk art collection.
I realize the appreciation of art is subjective, but I found the collection more like something you would find in your hoarding grandma’s basement. We even took the docent tour to try to understand, but YAWN!
Otherwise, it is clean, there is a nice space for children to play and there is a nice gift shop. Wish we had chosen the Native Amercian museum just across the courtyard instead. The sculpture garden outside (free) was far more interesting than the museum we visited.
Perhaps if all exhibits had been open, I would have left with a better impression.
Place rating: 4
Denver, CO
This was our last stop out of Santa Fe. The museum is gorgeous and situated on museum hill. The current exhibit was a pottery exhibit from the South. It was well done but nothing that really peaked our interest.
What was more fascinating was the giant room of folk art. It’s a lot to take in and fortunately a guard showed us where the «legends» were to know what we were looking at. This is the largest collection of folk art in one space and it is impressive.
The gift shop was also very well done and totally up my alley.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
If you are remotely into folk art, and especially if you’re into outsider art, you MUST visit the Museum of International Folk Art.
It’s located on Museum Hill with some serious company: The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture, and the Wheelwright Museum. You can buy a combo pass — I can’t remember the price. The admission to MOIFA is very reasonable: $ 9 for adults, Under 16 is free.
I was in here for hours. It’s enormous… far larger than the Folk Art Museum in NYC or the lovely, large section at the High in Atlanta.
One of the biggest differences between this museum and others of its kind is the international scope. Most museums concentrate on the US; the array of African, Middle Eastern and especially Latin American here is dizzying.
And you will find not only geographical diversity — but chronological depth as well. There is a formidable amount of Spanish Colonial work here. The American samplers are gorgeous.
The special exhibitions just add to the complexity here. The museum seems to attract a lot of woodworking — beautiful pieces with a lot of technical skill and other international presentations.
I floated out of this museum, so inspired. MOIFA was the unexpected highlight of a wondrous trip to Santa Fe.
Place rating: 4
Denver, CO
I’m a collector of folk art — primarily Mexican. I’m quite fond of this gallery because their extensive collection from all over the world is beautifully curated and housed in a stunning Alexander Girard building. You would think that this might be the perfect museum to take children. You’d be wrong. My experience is that like most museums, it will hold their interest for half an hour max. As others have mentioned, if you’re into museums you can buy a pass that will get you in to a number of museums like the O’Keeffe and the Museum of Fine Art for a reasonable price.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Just a small jaunt from the Plaza in Sante Fe, you can visit several museums and take in quite a view!
The Museum of International Folk Art was more than fascinating. You don’t have to go to Disneyland to experience «Its a small world» as one wing of the museum had incredible displays of nearly every culture and across many historical periods. The amount of work put into these folk art pieces boggles the imagination.
We really enjoyed a current exhibit relating to New Mexican wood carving artist. The history of the artist, the varied works, and how the art continues on today was fantastic… and we were able to find galleries in Sante Fe that also featured some of these amazing carvings.
Highly recommend a visit!
Place rating: 5
Saint Louis, MO
We had the New Mexico Culture Pass, which allowed us admission to several museums. I looked up all of them to decide which to go to. This wasn’t on my radar at all, but being highly rated, I thought it would be worth going. Since we weren’t paying an admission with our passes, if we were bored, we could always leave.
We walked in and were given an overview of the galleries, and were told that there was a docent ready to give a tour if we were interested. We decided to do it and this was pivotal to our experience! I highly, highly suggest being led. There are three galleries here. While we were visiting, one was a Japanese fighting kite exhibit, one was a Brazilian art exhibit, and one — a permanent gallery called the Girard Wing. That wing is where the docent took us. It was donated by Alexander Girard in 1982 and only has a small percentage of his collection. He arranged it all and there are no informational plaques by any of the exhibits, so getting the information by mouth was excellent. We were led through extravagant displays and single pieces and told all about them. It is hard to describe how interesting the information was, and the stories behind each display and piece was fascinating. We went to several museums in Santa Fe and Albuquerque and this was my favorite! Be sure to take the tour. Kids would like it. In a few of the galleries, there were hands on activities for kids (like making a kite). Completely worth the high rating. Go!
Place rating: 3
Denver, CO
This museum is in a gorgeous part of the city, nestled up on a hill across from Santa Fe’s bontanical gardens.
I very much enjoyed a couple of the exhibits. The Japanese kites were beautiful. There was a project table to make your own kite, which I enjoyed. I might have skipped this if there were a lot of children around, but it was a slow day at the museum.
The museum had an exhibit for people with HIV/​AIDS and that history. They showed art from around the world and visitors to the museum could contribute to the exhibit as well. which I thought was really cool.
The main *huge* miniatures/​folk art/​toys room was actually what I liked least. It was an impressive amount of stuff, and there is a guide book so you know somewhat what you’re looking at. There is so much that the book doesn’t go into detail at all. The exhibit reminded me of going (being dragged along to) antique shopping as a kid and there are endless shelves of knick knacks covered with dust. Occasionally kind of creepy. But I can see why some people really enjoy it.
I am mainly giving the museum three stars because it’s a cool location, very big and bright museum; however, there is an entrance fee, and for me personally, I don’t know that I would come back.
Place rating: 5
Roanoke, TX
We just made our first visitation to the Museum of International Folk Art and were absolutely amazed and the quality of the museum. When we were visiting there were exhibitions on Japanese kites, Amish Quilts and an exhibit on the culinary settlement of New Mexico.
I enjoyed the exhibit on kites a great deal. There was some very interesting content and history on kite making/​fighting in Japanese culture. There are many kites on display to show the true art involved in making these kites. Since most kites are made out of paper, the kites are not very old but learning about the role of kites in the culture is fascinating. There was a nice hands-​on activity for children (both young and old) where you get to decorate and build a miniature kite. Also be sure to take time to watch the video.
I found the exhibit about cooking in colonial times to be fascinating. You have the opportunity to walk through kitchens representing different time periods of settlement. It is intriguing to see how they would prepare the food and learn about how cooking techniques progressed. There is also interesting information to be learned about the production of chocolate, the origins of different foods we find common place, and a drink called «Mate» that is common in many Spanish and Mediterranean cultures.
The Amish quilt exhibit was also a real treat. These quilts represent a wide timeline and show the progression of the quilting design. To look at the quilts and realize that all the work is hand done is really inspiring. These is also a great hands-​on technological activity for everyone to try and design their own quilt.
The other main exhibit is an amazing display on miniature folk art toys from around the world. This collection is huge and you will be amazed at the diversity and detail that you will see.
Finally I would share with you that the museum bookstore has a great collection of books. As a cookbook collector, I was quite impressed with the cookbook selection offered. I think that this is one of the best selections of cookbooks that I have seen in the Santa Fe area for cooking New Mexico style and using those famous chilies.
Adult admission to the museum is 9 dollars and youth under the age of 16 were free. Spend some time enjoying the folk art of the different cultures and learning about the traditions that surround others.
Place rating: 5
Las Vegas, NV
The Macedonian Bridal collection is on exhibit through January 6th, 2013. It is stupendously beautiful The permanent collections at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe are very inspiring, and show what human beings are capable of creating by using imagination and discipline. The museum also represents, in a special wing, local New Mexico artisans and culture. i think that this museum holds something of interest to every visitor. It is rather hard to locate, so allow extra time to find the place.
Place rating: 4
Scottsdale, AZ
This Museum has an absolute incredible collection of folk art AND small toys and figurines!
MoIFA is in some ways is just too large to take in over one day. But for us, the toys and small figurines housed in Girard Wing was the most interesting. If you have children, you need to take them here! This is one of those Museums where they will pester you to take them back.
The guide books tells about Alexander and Susan Girard lifetime of collecting these figurines going back to their honeymoon trip to Mexico in 1939. In fact, their are over 100,000 objects in the The Girard collection. Children will want to get behind the plexiglas and play with them. Trust me, I wanted to as well. (See photos)
Enjoy!
Place rating: 5
Albuquerque, NM
This isn’t the New Mexico Museum of Folk Art, it’s International, and that’s the experience you’re going to have… and it’ll be a long day.
You need a lot of time to really savor the work from Spanish Colonial, Asian and Middle Eastern, Latin American and European cultures, along with the special exhibits. Museums like this truly emphasize the limitations of American Art, or how we classify it. I don’t recall seeing many paintings here. Statues, sure, but they’re not gigantic steel structures in the center of a lawn which may or may not represent… er, something… These are meticulously painted, hand-​sculpted and often totally useful everyday pieces which excite the eye and color your worldview.
I could use a daily dose of that.
Place rating: 4
Dallas, TX
By far one of my favorite museums. It’s pretty and shiny and there’s lots of cool stuff to see. You will literally go into sensory overload and giggle.
Big collections of folk art from around the world – the name sort of gives that away. But by folk art they mean costumes, jewelry, dolls, icons, all the nifty stuff. This ain’t no boring pottery and primitive pottery sort of thing. There’s more colors than I knew were on the color wheel. Huge rooms full of detailed dioramas. It’s really amazing.
Great time. I hate to say it because I’m sure if you’re on vaca to Santa Fe you want to see Native American art and history – but if you can only squeeze in one museum, make it this one.