Museum of Indian Arts and Culture

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums as part of the Museum of New Mexico system. The museum and its programs are financially supported by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.[2]

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/Laboratory of Anthropology
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
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Established1927
LocationSanta Fe, New Mexico
TypeAnthropology museum
DirectorDr. Matthew Martinez (interim)
Websitewww.indianartsandculture.org
Laboratory of Anthropology
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is located in New Mexico
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is located in the United States
Museum of Indian Arts and Culture
Location708 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Coordinates35°39′52″N 105°55′28″W / 35.66444°N 105.92444°W / 35.66444; -105.92444
Arealess than one acre
Built1931 (1931)
ArchitectJohn Gaw Meem
Architectural styleSpanish Pueblo Revival
NRHP reference No.83001630[1]
NMSRCP No.890
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 12, 1983
Designated NMSRCPDecember 1, 1982

The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is dedicated to the accurate and culturally sensitive presentation of southwestern Native American cultures. Its mission statement emphasizes its intention to work closely with the Native communities of the region. The current interim director is Dr. Matthew Martinez (Ohkay Owingeh).[3] The prior director is Della Warrior (Otoe-Missouria).[4]

Collections

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External videos
  Santa Fe's Museum of Indian Arts and Culture (6:55), C-SPAN[5]

Object collections at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture are divided administratively into "Individually Catalogued Collections," which include typological collections of Southwestern textiles, pottery, baskets, jewelry, contemporary art, and artifacts chronicling the everyday life of New Mexico's long period of human habitation. As the state repository for archaeological materials, the Museum has the responsibility to care for and maintain all artifacts excavated on state-owned land. Its Archaeological Research Collection contains artifacts numbering between 5 and 10 million. (As these artifacts are stored as "bulk" collections, and not catalogued individually, an exact count is unknown.

Exhibitions

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The museum has a regularly changing schedule of temporary exhibitions, which draw on the strengths of its collection. Long-term exhibitions on view at the museum include:

  • Painted Reflections: Isomeric Design in Ancestral Pueblo Pottery, displays ancestral pottery from the 9th century to modern that exemplify using unpainted liminal space and negative space painted design to achieve meaningful optical illusions of texture and space.[6]
  • Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, featuring work by 33 distinct artists along with field innovator Dale Chihuly who is highlighted as introducing glass work to Indian Country by opening the first hot shop at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe in 1974. [7]
  • The Buchsbaum Gallery of Southwestern Pottery, which contains nearly 300 ceramic vessels created by artists of the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona. Objects on display range from those created near the inception of pottery-making in the Southwest up to the present.[8]
  • Here, Now & Always, (currently closed for renovation, scheduled to reopen July 2022) a permanent major exhibition that documents the Southwest's indigenous communities and their challenging landscapes. Here, Now and Always includes more than 1,300 objects from the museum's collection accompanied by poetry, story, song and scholarly discussion.[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Museum of New Mexico Foundation
  3. ^ "MIAC Welcomes New Deputy Director, Matthew Martinez, Ph.D. :: Department of Cultural Affairs Media Center :: Press Releases". media.newmexicoculture.org. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  4. ^ "Indian Education Leader Della Warrior to Direct Museum of Indian Arts and Culture/New Mexico Laboratory of Anthropology." Southwest Indian Archaeology Today. Retrieved 12 Aug 2013.
  5. ^ "Santa Fe's Museum of Indian Arts and Culture". C-SPAN. January 10, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  6. ^ "Painted Reflections: Isomeric Design in Ancestral Pueblo Pottery | Current Exhibitions | Museum of Indian Arts & Culture | Santa Fe, New Mexico". www.indianartsandculture.org. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  7. ^ "Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass | Current Exhibitions | Museum of Indian Arts & Culture | Santa Fe, New Mexico". www.indianartsandculture.org. Retrieved 2022-02-09.
  8. ^ Abatemarco, Michael (November 13, 2021). "The Buchsbaum Gallery of Southwestern Pottery at the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture". Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
  9. ^ Gomez, Adrian (November 20, 2021). "Renovations continue at MIAC in Santa Fe". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved 2021-12-27.
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